Evolutionary Aincrad
by JaaMatane
Summary: An alternate version of canon, Kirigaya Kazuto finds himself in the same death game as the light novels, Sword Art Online, but with some different variables. His pursuit to become stronger takes place within Aincrad, and it's evolving technology throughout the floors, alongside his childhood friend, Asada Shino. (KiritoxSinon)
1. Origins

"…And that's another level up for me. Hey, how did your swordsman get such high agility?"

"I told you Kaz, It's just R.N.G."

"Psh, yeah, whatever, you get all the lucky growths. My last few runs through this game have been so unlucky…" A young Kirigaya Kazuto sighed, setting his Gameboy down in the shade, and looked over at his friend.

"Oh yeah?" Aaron, one of Kazuto's gamer buddies replied, still keeping his eyes on the handheld screen.

"You know, you don't have to be such a smart ass."

"Hm? How do you mean?" Aaron's eyes peered above the miniature machine. His repeated usage of 'oh yeah?' almost always seemed sarcastic, yet it was his go-to filler response.

"Eh, nevermind."

Kazuto stretched out onto the grass, trying to keep his head in the shade. The rays of sunshine creeped through the branches when the wind blew just right, irking him when it shone directly into his eyes.

"Kiritoooooooo!" A young girl chirped, running towards the boys hanging out in the field.

"Great, here comes that little pest you let follow you." Aaron scoffed.

With a groan, Kazuto sat up, annoyed he wasn't able to catch a quick nap. He turned towards the sound and was met with a tackle hug from his neighbor, Asada Shino.

"Happy Birthday Kirito-Senpai!"

"Oi Oi, thanks, Shino." Kazuto replied, catching her and lowering her to the ground.

Asada Shino was 3 years his junior, making her 9 years old. 'Kirito' was her cute mispronunciation of his first and last name and developed into a permanent nickname.

"Guess what, guess what! We did so much cool stuff at school today!" She began to go on and on.

"Eh, I'll catch you later Kaz. Ciao." Aaron waved off, while Kazuto suppressed the kid waving her arms below him.

'Kirito' waved his friend off, and then began nodding while the girl spewed her entire days' worth of activities with excitement. He gave a bored sigh and zoned her out while beginning to walk her home, since his mother forced him to.

"And, and, the fish was GI-NOR-MOUS, and I SWEAR it tried to eat the other fish!"

"Mhm."

"Oh! Oh! Our instructor also gave us candy! Do you like candy Kirito?!"

"Yeah."

He kept his eyes firmly forward, on the sidewalk. He began to daydream about the video game he was playing.

Shino tugged his hand. For the first time that day, he looked over at the girl, her hair and eyes sharing a similar darker complexion, with a warm smile. She pushed up her glasses and offered him a piece of candy which caused him to smile.

"How's that Shinkawa kid? Is he still bothering you at school?"

Shino looked over to Kazuto, and shook her head no, still sucking on candy.

"I see, that's good. Where did you say we had to stop before going home?"

"Mum said to meet her at the post office, she'll give us a ride home from there. It's a few minutes from here!"

Kazuto sighed, then felt his ears twitch as he heard sirens nearby. Within a few moments, a police vehicle swooped passed them, and flew down the road adjacent to them. He continued to watch, but noticed even more vehicles in the distance after squinting.

"Ooooh, somebodies in trouble!"

"Quiet, Shino. Let's keep going."

They continued onward, sirens still blaring down the streets. They seemed to get further away. Kazuto felt a small trickle on his cheek, and looked up to see enormous gray clouds forming. Within a few moments, the rain gained momentum, and began assaulting the pavement around them.

"I didn't pack an umbrella today, did you bring one Kazuto?" Shino asked, tugging at his jacket.

"Nah, we're almost there though. Let's go." He nudged her along.

Arriving, he scanned the lobby for Shino's mother… to no avail. He sighed and plopped down in one of the chairs near the back of the room, as the line of customers continued to go about their business.

Shino was restless, climbing around in her chair.

"Oi, sit down, your mum will be here soon."

She huffed, and sat back in her chair, folding her arms.

He smiled and placed a hand on the top of her head, which immediately made her respond with a rosy smile. He gave her a playful pet, a common thing for him to do to her.

A few more customers walked in, causing Kazuto's gaze to briefly track them, then went towards his pocket as he pulled out his game again. He turned it on to reveal the level he was working on prior, attempting to get levels for his swordsman.

 _CRACK CRACK CRACK_

Kazuto and Shino jumped, his game device springing out of his hands, breaking on the floor. People started screaming, causing white hot adrenaline and fear to fill his skull.

"NOBODY MOVE." One of the customers yelled, followed by a few more scarce whimpers from someone on the other side of the lobby.

Kazuto froze. He slowly turned his head to look at Shino.

 _CRACK CRACK_

More screams.

He felt like screaming himself, for his mother, and like crying, and looked at the look of terror on his friend's face. She was trembling in her seat, witnessing the person who just tried to run getting gunned down by a second burglar. He did his best to slowly motion her to be quiet.

Kazuto slowly looked toward the commotion near the register, and it seemed like the burglars were getting what they came here for, money. If they just remained quiet, they'd be on there way-

Shino _screamed_ , completely belting her lungs out. Kazuto immediately pounced her, ramming his palm over her mouth, as they fell to the floor. He heard their footsteps drawing closer.

"Get that girl to shut the fuck up, or I'm killing another one."

"Yeah, I'll bring her. Tell that bitch behind the counter to hurry up."

Kazuto jumped, a massive hand came and grabbed Shino by the hair and dragged her down the lounge. Kazuto did nothing but freeze and watch as his friend, kicked and scream while an armed burglar forced her towards the counter. His rage fueled when he heard a loud thud, followed by a yelp, and Shino no longer crying. He had hit her with the butt of his pistol.

"I want that money in this bag within 15 seconds or this little girl is next."

The attendant frantically threw money into the pouch, dropping wads all over the floor.

 _CRACK_

More screams, Kazuto flinched, as the second to last employee behind the counter hit the ground with a thud. He saw Shino bleeding on the floor, causing him to vault over his seat, barreling towards the armed gunman. His partner smirked, as the gun was aimed at Kazuto's head.

"Kids are dumb these days." The man said, pulling the trigger.

 _Click._

Kazuto barreled into him full force, biting his arm as hard as he could. He had been counting shots, the man needed to reload.

"RUN, SHINO!" Kazuto yelled, being thrown off the burglar, who quickly wrestled a fresh clip into the gun, kicking Kazuto in the face.

Before the gun was able to go off again, Kazuto's adrenaline rammed him into the gunman one more time, causing the weapon to fall to the floor, as the man began to beat and batter the boy senseless, and stabbing his chest.

"Move the fuck over, I'll just shoot him!" The second man yelled to his partner.

 _CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK_

The two wrestling bodies went to a standstill, the man collapsing onto Kazuto.

"Oh fuck me… Dalton!" The remaining gunman yelled, eyes darting around left and right, beginning to panic.

He flew into a rage, grabbing Kazuto by the neck, and squeezing as hard as he could. Kazuto's feet kicked and wrestled, and slowly began to submit as the man choked the life out of him, slamming his head into the floor over and over.

Exhausted, and in a haze, Kazuto began to lose vision, his eyes becoming bloodshot as the man squeezed the life out of him. All resistance ceased, as the man's muscles flexed harder and harder crushing his windpipes.

 _CRACK CRACK Click Click Click Click Click_

A trembling Shino, sobbing, continuously squeezed the trigger over and over, aiming the tool in her hand at the man killing her best friend. Within moments, nearby bystanders jumped the final gunman, and brought him to the floor.

Footsteps filled the room.

"Are they alive? Check that one!" Dozens of voices filled the lobby, as people from the street and behind the counter began to fill into the room, as well as officers. Shino remained trembling, holding the gun.

"Easy now… It's alright." A strange man in a hat said in a comforting tone, approaching Shino.

She jumped, pointing it at him causing him to flinch. She looked over and noticed Kazuto lying face up, eyes wide open, motionless. The gun hit the floor with a thud, as she quickly crawled over to him, trying to see if he was okay.

A pair of hands scooped her up, prompting her to begin screaming and crying again, but they continued to hold her and carry her off, as she could do nothing but extend her hand toward the boy on the floor.

 _ **Six Years Later**_

Asada Shino woke up in a cold sweat and looked at the alarm clock. With a groan, she worked herself up, and towards the washroom.

'First day of high school, and I already feel like shit.'

Her morning ritual consisted of showering, brushing her teeth, and nothing out of the ordinary for a girl her age to prepare in the morning.

Shino looked into the mirror, adjusting the two bows in her hair that fell to the sides, and adjusted her black rimmed glasses. She straightened her skirt one last time and gave a confident smile.

"Okay."

Making her way outside, she took notice of her friend waiting for her on his motorcycle, she waved nervously.

"Nope, jacket. You should still have mine in there somewhere." Kirito ordered, pointing her back to the door.

"O-Oh, right, sorry!" She quickly went back inside, and pulled the black hoodie over herself, and made her way back to him.

"Freshman eh?" Kirito stated, working his helmet onto his head. "One more year for me. You good?"

She took a seat behind him, fastening herself on the back of his bike, and putting her arms around his chest.

"Mm!"

On their ride, her head rested on his back, as she daydreamed while the houses and shops zipped by. The night she was supposed to get extra sleep, she ended up getting next to zero due to those horrible recollection of memory dreams…

"Thanks again for taking me to school, I know it's out of the way for you."

Resting at a red light, he looked behind his shoulder. "Aye."

The rest of the trip they remained silent. Rather than awkward tension, it was relatively normal for the friends to spend time together relatively quiet. They didn't need to fill gaps with filler to be content in one's company.

Pulling into the school's parking lot, Kirito grabbed a spot and worked himself off the bike and popped his helmet off.

"Nervous?"

Shino looked at the floor of the parking lot and gulped.

Like he always has, be placed a hand on her head and pet her.

"You'll be fine. First class?

She smiled and suppressed a giggle. "Uhm, English." She rifled through her bag, and double checked her schedule. "Yeah, English."

The two made their way in the front doors of the school, as many talkative upper and lower classman nervously made their way inside. Baby-faced freshman gave Shino odd looks, the ones that recognized her at least. A tall senior dressed in black escorted her inside, prompting people to start asking questions.

She nervously tagged alongside him, trying not to bump into people in the halls. A familiar face appeared, one that Kirito particular detested.

"Asada-San! You made it, oh I can't wait to spend the year with you!"

Shinkawa Kyouji slithered into the fray, glaring at Kirito.

"Hello, S-Shinkawa-kun." She gave a nervous wave.

Kirito ignored him and kept walking.

The strange teen followed them like a dog, to her first class.

"I'm gonna' go. You good? Need anything Sinon?" Kirito looked her up and down quickly.

"N-No Kirito, thank you so much." She bowed, blushing at the pet name he gave her when they were younger.

"K." He walked off getting a nudge from a few of his friends, leaving the two freshmen to their class.

"So, Kaz, the fuck you doin' with that freshman still? She your girlfriend? Talk about cradle robber." Aaron teased, elbowing Kazuto.

"Eat shit Aaron, and no, she's a friend. I'm still trying to get with that Asuna girl. How you been?"

"Eh not bad, been on the SAO beta grind, game's pretty dope."

The two turned into their first class, Physical Education. They both saved it as an easy credit for their last year.

Aaron had curly brown hair, with a never-ending shit eating grin. He was in better shape than Kazuto, despite being rather fat in his childhood. Despite his immaturity, he was a good friend when it mattered.

"Other than games, did your family ever make it to America this summer?" Kazuto asked, taking a seat in the gymnasium.

More students began to pile in, varying from various grade levels.

"Yeah we went to Florida, the food was pretty good, and the babes."

"You're an idiot. Speaking of which." Kazuto waved at the girl approaching them.

A chestnut-haired Junior approached giving a warm smile and hug to the both of them.

"Hey nerds, how you been?"

"Hey Asuna."

"Hi Asuna."

"I'm fine. We were just chatting, Aaron here made it to America after all." Kazuto mentioned, flipping out his phone briefly.

"Yeah we were just talking about the food."

"…And the nice babes he found, apparently." He added, still sifting through texts.

Asuna rolled her eyes.

"Y'know, you two are lucky that this is your last year."

The three continued to catch up, and the day dragged on. Kazuto's friend group had been dabbling lately in VRMMOs, particularly the critically acclaimed S.A.O. beta. Unfortunately, Aaron and Asuna were the only ones interested, as everyone else was more into shooters.

…

 **School Lunch Room.**

At lunchtime, Kazuto and Aaron sat at a corner table on Aaron's laptop, working on theory-crafting S.A.O. builds, while Shino uncomfortably made her way towards them, accompanied by her leech.

"…Yeah, I don't think putting your points into that would ever be correct, because you're 'gonna use it anyway, you know?" Aaron pointed.

"Yeah I'll probably spec into something else, did you ever try out the PK perks? How many kills did you need to get the thermal vision?"

"It was like 3 I think-

"H-Hey guys." The freshman squeaked.

Kirito looked up quickly, and waved, and averted his gaze back to the laptop.

"Man that gear you found looks so fucked, haha." Kazuto chuckled, looking at Aaron's appearance in game.

"Oh yeah?"

Shino cleared her throat.

"Kirito, err- Kazuto, is that the new Sword game coming out?" Shino's head tilted in curiosity, unpacking her lunch.

"It's Sword Art Online." Aaron teased.

"Hush, Aaron. And yeah, that's what we're looking at, S.A.O."

The leech Shinkawa, also sat down, next to Shino.

"I see. Would you mind showing me after school? You've been talking about it so much lately."

The gnat-like freshman next to Shino stammered:

"D-Didn't you want to come on a date with me after classes, Asada-san?"

'God what a beta.' Kirito thought.

"Um, s-sorry Shinkawa. I already had plans, like I said." She responded, leading to the boys pouting.

After an awkward pause, Kirito looked back to her.

"Yeah no problem, right to my place after class or do you need to stop by home?"

"I don't need to be home until tonight, so we're good." Shino smiled.

…

 **Kazuto's House**

The two teens made their way inside, both waving to Suguha, Kazuto's sister.

"Welcome home!" She chirped, accustomed to welcoming her brother's friend as well, since she's known her for so long.

After greetings, they made their way up to his room, which always gave Shino slight butterflies. He closed the door behind her.

"You remember nerve-gear, right?" Kirito asked, untangling the cords for both of his systems.

"M-Mm!" She nodded.

"K, put this on." He handed her one of the helmets and let her get situated. She got onto his bed, which also gave her butterflies, and waited for his instructions.

He gently pushed her over, making room for himself on the bed with his own nerve gear. He thought nothing of it, despite her blushing slightly.

"Okay, I'm going to select Sword Art Online, right?"

"Yeah, go ahead. It's just the beta, so make your character et cetera."

"Link Start!"

The two of them were then thrown into the User interface of Virtual Reality.

 **AN:** 1\. I dislike AN's, don't get used to them.

2\. Rated M for a reason. (Language, violence, sex, etc).

3\. Review if you get a chance, negative/positive, idc.

4\. If you have plot related questions ex: "Will this have a death game arc in it?" Feel free to ask, I'll give general spoilers so you can decide if this is worth your time, just pm me.

5\. Thanks for reading.


	2. Calm Before the Storm

In a flash, the teens' realities began to distort, as their vision turned to black. Their connected Nervegears allowed them to continue to communicate. Asuna reached out, still not too familiar with the system, and felt herself grab Kirito's arm in the real world.

"Ok, stop moving for a moment. You should see options popping up around your display."

"I see them." Shino responded.

"Click the popup that I just sent you."

 _Kirito has invited you to play: SWORD ART ONLINE: BETA [ACCEPT] DECLINE_

Accepting, she felt a flutter in her chest for knowing how dedicated of a gamer that Kazuto was, he had still made _her_ nickname for him his standard username. She promptly entered _Sinon_ as her permanent username.

Kirito zoned in, stretching, and made his way to where the noobs spawned. The Town of Beginnings was still packed, since the beta would only be around for another few days. Kirito had been the first one to clear the 5th floor, and then stopped caring about progression at that point. He spent more time learning the ins and outs of the game, as well as theory crafting.

He pushed up his glasses, using them only in virtual reality. In real life, he had always used contact lenses, but opted to use them in VR for a change of appearance. Luckily the nervegear would allow user entered prescriptions, so you can change the skin of your glasses at any time, or swap to contacts. Aside from the spectacles, his character looked like an older version of himself, as well as taller. His hair was a few centimeters longer, and had a more aggravated set of facial sliders.

A player spawned, a short girl with vibrantly blue hair tied to the sides of her face with ribbons, and bright cyan-like eyes. Aside from those two features, it appeared as though Shino had used the default face converter.

"Oi, Sinon." He waved her over, watching her carefully take steps in VR. "You won't fall, it feels the same as walking around IRL."

"This is really cool…" She looked around, looked down at herself, and then up to her best friend.

"Oh! I haven't seen you wear glasses in years!" She looked up at him, amazed at his appearance.

He towered over her already in real life, being nearly a foot taller. In game, it was slightly greater a difference than that due to Kirito's avatar being taller than him.

"I'll show you around, if you'd like." He gestured her down the bustling road.

"Mm!"

"So, the premise of this game is kind of like an RPG, hence VRMMORPG, Remember the Elder Scrolls Games you watched me play?"

"Yeah, the one with the swords, magic and cheesy dialogue, right?" Sinon pondered.

"Pretty much, the game's like that, except with other players."

A woman waved at Kirito from behind a stall.

"Oi, Kirito, thanks for your help the other day!" The woman seemed in her early forties, with a genuine smile.

He waved back.

"That's an NPC, non-playable character. The green text listing her name lets you know that she's not real. Above my head, you'll see the red diamond, and a green diamond above yours."

"Why is yours red, Kirito?" Sinon cocked her head to the side.

"You become a red player when you kill other players and take their gear. Aaron and I were experimenting with PvP the other day."

She giggled.

"You bully!"

He shrugged.

"Red players, well, any player can't hurt real players in towns like this. PK'ing, Player Killing, can only happen in the wilderness or dungeons."

Sinon pondered for a few moments, while looking around at her surroundings while they walked. The NPC's seemed so real, she wasn't particularly convinced that they weren't real.

"… Being a red player has some benefits, like extra perks, or powers, that you can only unlock by PvP'ing. But… Unfortunately, green players can attack me in towns, since I'm not technically allowed here, and they'd get a bounty, based on how many people I've killed."

"I see. I don't think I'd ever kill another player for their stuff." Sinon rolled her eyes, knowing Kirito's competitive personality. "So, how big is your bounty?"

"Fucking enormous." He chuckled.

She gave him a friendly punch in the chest, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, check this out." Kirito directed her into a shop, named Agil's Axes.

A tall older man in his late twenties was behind a counter, a green diamond above his head. A player.

"A red player in my shop, I should call the militia!" He said, raising his axe.

Kirito didn't flinch and gave a small laugh.

"Sup Agil, just showing a friend around."

The man put his axe down, ending his little prank.

"Mm, the beta's ending soon, if you're going to bring more friends, do it quick!"

Agil went back to his work, cataloging on his user interface, in game menu.

"Aye. So, Sinon, what kind of weapon do you think you'd like to roll with?"

The girl stepped forward, peering at all the various tools on the wall. Axes, swords, hilts, pommels, hammers, shields, and all sorts of equipment were on display.

"I.. I dunno. I don't really like to get up close. Is this going to be the right game for me?" She kept scanning, hoping to see something she'd like.

"Hmm, maybe she'd like being a mage? Or, perhaps, a ranger? I don't have any Staves, so maybe something like this." The man went back into his storage room and brought out a few bows with arrows.

"Oh, nice thinking Ag."

The shopkeeper nodded and looked back down at his wares.

"What'dya think?"

Sinon picked up a bow and arrow, humming.

"Do you mind if I try it?"

"Sure, knock yourself out. You want to shoot too, Kirito?"

"Yeah, I'll give it a go. Never done it before."

The three moved back into Agil's equipment room, with a decent range set up, the target several meters away. Sinon picked up one of the arrows, and uncomfortably held up her best position that she could assume. She noticed a small circle expanding and retracting near where the target was, and released.

The arrow collapsed out of the arrow, hitting the floor in a lame manner. Kirito chuckled, and Agil went back to his counter.

Sinon was amazed. It felt real. She didn't even care that she missed, she felt powerful. She docked another arrow and fired it. This one also missed, hitting a panel far to the right of the target.

"You got this." Kirito watched, pulling out a snack from his inventory and watching.

In pure focus, she examined the cause and effect of her movements with her bow.

' _This one should fly far off to the left, after being on target.'_

She let another arrow loose, heading straight towards the bullseye, and then veering off left and missing the target completely.

"Damn, so close." Kirito encouraged, with a mouth full of cookie.

Unphased, she grinned. She understood it.

'This one's going to hit directly under the bullseye.'

Her arrow flew, and found purchase directly below the bullseye, as she predicted.

"Yes!" she chirped.

"Nice!"

The new few minutes consisted of her landing bullseye after bullseye, making her arrows do increasingly more intricate paths to reach the target. Kirito was awestruck.

"Holy hell, you're amazing at it." He coughed, and put his snack away, lifting up his own bow.

Kirito looked down range, doing his best to focus, and then converting that focus to raw power. His arrow soared through the air at roughly four times the speed as Sinon's but missed entirely. He tried numerous times and kept missing with no progress.

"Fuck me, this is aids. Any tips, Sinon?

She got excited eager to help him whenever he needed _her_ help.

"Um, focus exactly on where you want the arrow to go, and then wait for the small circle you see moving around to center right over it."

Another arrow flew, hitting a wall.

"Fuck."

Sinon approached him, placing her hand on his arm, straightening it out, and then looked into his eyes. She then diverted their gaze to the target.

"Focus, Kirito."

The room went quiet, as he held the bow taut, her hand still on his. It soothed him.

"Release."

The arrow punctured the target, not a perfect bullseye, but bore through a portion of the target on the outer rim.

"I'll take it. You're good though, kudos, Sinon."

She blushed, and bowed.

"All done in here?" The shopkeeper poked his head in, politely asking.

"Mm! I'll take it." Sinon exclaimed, reaching for her purse, patting her butt for her wallet, and realizing she was in VR.

Kirito walked up next to her, swiping his hand through the air.

"Swipe your hand like that."

She did so.

Her options were before her, like a hologram, including her inventory.

"So, top right, you'll see you have no money, but when you do get money that's were it'll be. I'll pay for the bow."

"Oh, okay. T-Thanks!"

She made her way back to the counter, entire option menu still clumsily floating in front of her.

"Close it with a side swipe."

She traced her finger through the air, and it closed with a small ringing sound.

"That's so cool."

They finished their transaction and said their farewells to Agil. The remainder of the afternoon consisted of the pair venturing around the Town of Beginnings and Kirito showing her the ropes. She caught on quickly and seemed to enjoy it immensely. Their busy day of exploring ended in the booth of an inn, as they relaxed over drinks.

"Kirito-senpai? Her voice was rather tired.

"Hm?"

"It's already dark out, and I feel so tired." She yawned.

"Ahh, time travels faster in S.A.O. It lets people play during the in-game night time when they may not be able to IRL. It's probably not even dinner time yet."

"Time travels slower in real life?" This peaked her interest.

"Aye. Also, interested in playing the real game when it comes out? I like having you around." He said, downing a cola, clearing his throat.

Sinon was excited. Kirito was always going off and playing games that involved tournaments, livestreams, and paths where she wasn't able to follow. This time, he actually wanted her around, rather than watching him destroy others on a video.

"Of course!" She smiled hard, feeling her dimples get a bit of soreness. She must have been smiling a lot.

"Great. Think I'm gonna' log, you can keep playing if you'd like." He swiped his menu and paused before logging out incase she would join him.

"Kay." She followed along.

The smell of Kazuto's room returned to both of their nostrils, as well as the subtle sound of the swishing ceiling fan. Shino let out a relieved sigh, and placed her Nervegear on the nightstand behind them, as Kazuto also did. The two lay in silence together, next to one another.

"Thanks for showing me around, that was fun."

"No prob'." He yawned, checking his phone, it was nearly 6:00PM. He got up, moving to his drawer.

Shino turned, watching him. The smell of his room soothed her and made her feel at home. His computer was on, his screensaver bouncing around on a black background. Returning her eyes back to him, he was now shirtless, changing into a t-shirt from his nicer clothes from class. She would always blush when witnessing his physique, but her eyes landed near where his muscles were, a series of deep scars along his abs. She remembered that day, feeling helpless as a police officer carried off, while Kirito lay motionless in a growing pool of his own blood.

Sinon rose to her feet, and approached him, gently touching his scar as he was bringing the shirt over his head.

"Hm? Sinon?"

"Do you still think about that day, ever?" Her voice was now more solemn, her eyes growing cloudy.

"Every day. Why?"

She looked up at him, shocked, and saw the hurt in his eyes. Each of them had to kill someone in self-defense, and they shared that burden.

"It's been bothering me lately… I feel" She folded her arms nervously, as the left side of her lower lip began to tremble, making it tough for her to speak. "I feel like I'm responsible for it. Y-You know? If I hadn't screamed…" She wiped her eyes.

Kirito waited, listening to her completely. The two stood in the dark room, lit only by the screensaver still bouncing around in the corner.

"Why lately?" He asked, tenderly brushing the hair from her eyes once.

She took a deep breathe, and did her best to continue, and not choke up.

"It's just been on my mind. I couldn't help but feel like, maybe I could be strong, you know? When I picked up the bow in S.A.O., I felt like I had real potential, and didn't have to be a weakling anymore." She choked slightly, her sentence ending abruptly.

Her sleeves were now damp on her clothes, and she gave a sarcastic giggle.

"I probably sound like an idiot, bringing up a game at an important time like this." Shino added.

"I don't think that." He calmly responded. "I know what you mean. I use these games as an outlet too, thinking if I become the strongest, I can compensate for my failures that day. I feel responsible too."

"W-Why you? I am the one who screamed…"

"I couldn't protect you. If I was stronger, you would have been safe-"

She shook her head several times, and burrowed her head into his chest, hugging him. She could still remember the faces of the men who assaulted them, but she would not blame Kazuto for those horrible memories.

"It's not your fault, Kirito-Senpai."

He returned the hug with one arm, and lowered his mouth to her ear.

"You're like a little sister to me, Sinon. I want to be there for you."

She gasped slightly, hugging him tighter. She felt similar, he was always her older counterpart throughout their childhood, and always depended on him for everything. But… Another part of her heart stirred and squeezed inside of her. She didn't just want to be a burden to him, but also walk alongside him.

"Thank you, Kirito-Senpai." She sniffled, wiping her eyes on his shirt.

He pulled the bottom of his shirt over his scar, hiding it from view.

"No problem." He smiled and ruffled her hair in an extensively long and slow pet, causing her bangs to swish in and out of view from her glasses.

With Kirito's unique power of improving her mood, she felt good as new, and let out another relaxed sigh.

"…Reckon I'll take you home in a bit here."

"O-Okay." She frowned, upset that their embrace ended. "Oh, I'll leave the jacket I borrowed here with you, I don't want you to go too long without having it."

"Don't you usually just end up taking another one?" He asked, slightly confused.

"U-Um. Yeah, but I don't want you to go without one for too long." Her excuses to get jackets and hoodies that smelled like him got worse over the last couple years, but he still seemed oblivious.

"All right then, grab your gear, I'll have you home before you mum makes supper." Kirito exclaimed, while he replaced his contact lenses.

…

 **Near Shino's Residence**

Kazuto's motorcycle rounded the final corner and was now on Shino's street. The autumn air nipped at the bits of naked flesh on each of their hands, as winter was soon approaching. He parked near her apartment, keeping his helmet on.

"Thanks, Kirito-Senpai." She gave him a brave one-armed hug and made her way to her home.

"Game comes out soon, I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Yeah, can't wait to play it a bunch with you! Cya!" She waved, unlocking her door.

Kirito fed his bike some gas, departing once he was inside and shut the door, and made his way home. From down the street, Shinkawa Kyuoiji grit his teeth in jealousy and anger, and made his way home.


	3. Transition

_**The morning of S.A.O.'s launch**_

Kazuto was sprawled out on the couch, letting his hair dry from his morning shower. He flipped through the channels, mostly news, until finally landing on a commercial for the critically acclaimed Sword Art Online. There was a countdown timer, sitting at around two hours and fifty minutes until it released. While the ad played, his adopted cousin walked in the room, also wrapped in a towel.

"You used all the hot water again, y'know." Suguha prodded.

"Woops." His eyes didn't leave the screen.

She walked in front of the flat screen and crossed her arms.

"Hmph!"

He flicked the tv off with the remote and placed it on the table in front of him.

"Want to try that new game coming out later?"

Her expression brightened, while she pulled the wet hair from her view.

"Eh, not really my interest. Besides, aren't you gonna' get your girlllllfriend to play with you?"

Kazuto rolled his eyes.

"Asuna's not my girlfriend, still working on that. She is going to pick up a copy of the game though." He rose, getting dressed while speaking.

Sugu gave him an odd look.

"I thought you were with Asada-san? Did you two have a fight!?"

Despite being jealous of the amount of time Kazuto spent with Shino and made her jealous, Sugu thought she was a nice girl.

"Huh? No, we didn't have a fight. We're just friends though." Kazuto laughed.

With a great deal of confusion, Sugu slid out an overextended "Okaaaaaay".

Kazuto's phone buzzed.

 _ **Aaron**_

' _u free? I need a ride rq to get a quick nerve gear charger. Lmk if u can'_

He groaned, getting dressed and went out to help him.

…

Kazuto stepped off his bike and let his friend Aaron get off as well.

"Thanks for the lift man, my car's still in the shop."

"Any time, let me know if you need anything else. Game drops in a half hour."

"Yup. Also I'm surprised how expensive this shit was, they really fucked me, you know?" He shook his head and unlocked his apartment, being careful not to break the merchandise in the bag.

"Mhm, seems like they design shit to break nowadays, just to get you to buy it again."

They gave their final farewells, and Kirito was off to grab Shino from her apartment.

Rolling up, she was outside with the Gnat. It appeared as though Shinkawa looked excited over something.

"…As soon as you log in, find me!" He yelled, scurrying down the side walk away from her apartment.

Kazuto looked at Shino, then to the running figure down the sidewalk, and then back to her.

"Shit, he's 'gonna play?" His voice was distorted due to his helmet, but she understood him.

Shino gave out a long sigh and nodded. She was wearing some baggy sweatpants in addition to Kirito's enormous (on her) sweatshirt. She gave her glasses a bit of adjustment and turned her frown into a smile.

"Let's go! I'm excited."

He revved up his bike. The trip home seemed to take _ages_. The game would be out in only fifteen minutes. Every streetlight was red. Pedestrians ventured the crosswalks in bulk. Local busses were clogging the streets. Delays, delays.

At long last, they reached his home, and the pair nearly jumped off the motorcycle.

They jogged off to his room, nearly running Sugu over in the process, prompting Shino to yell back a quick apology.

"You morons." Sugu said under her breath.

Kazuto shut the door promptly and jumped onto his bed after wiring up the Nervegears.

"I'm hype as fuck right now. Let's go quick." He urged as he fastened the helmet on.

Kazuto got on his bed, and immediately dove into the VR. Shino watched him, a smile forced on her face seeing the few times he looked kind of like a kid, with how excited he was. Amidst her day dreaming, a few minutes had gone by. She came to, and slowly set the Nervegear over her head.

"Kirito?"

"…"

He must have already been inside. She made a promise to herself that she would _absolutely_ be the first one to log out, so she could quickly hide what she was about to do. She cautiously wiggled her hand into his, despite how sweaty and clammy her hand was due to her anxiety.

"Link Start!"

Sinon winced, feeling a subtle squeeze from her head, that slowly eased in intensity as she opened her eyes. She looked around, confuddled as to why there was no screens to select her character, or anything she saw in the beta. She discarded the thoughts once she realized her character was identical to the one she had already made.

Around her, several people were materializing, seemingly appearing out of thin air. Far above, the signature clock tower she recognized from the last time she played was there, they were in the same city as before.

"This way, Sinon." Kirito appeared, giving a wave from behind his spectacles. "Let's go to the opening ceremony."

She gave him an eager grin and jogged up adjacent to him.

"Sorry it took me so long, I was checking my phone." She lied, blushing.

Thousands of cheers, conversations, and anything between filled their ears, as everyone was localized into an enormous stadium, with an enormous hologram displaying a countdown in the center of it all. They found seats and navigated their inventories. Around them several players who had never played before made their ignorance known, asking Kirito several questions, seeing as he was already decently high level.

"Damn, they scaled me down back to level 6. Not bad though. I got to keep most of my items from the beta, though." He waved his inventory closed. "What about you?"

Sinon opened the user interface and noticed all of the small items she came across earlier in the week were intact.

"Mm! All here." She scanned through the various menus, far more was available as compared to when she played the beta. The newest addition that caught her eye was the "Character Panel".

Upon opening it, her avatar was visible, as well as various tabs involving skills, traits, skill points, and various other customizations.

"So, what type of build do you want to play?" Kirito asked, looking at her menus.

"Hm. What do you mean?"

Kirito reached over and pointed to one of the tabs.

"Alright, so everyone usually has a dominant trait, like strength, agility, intelligence, stuff like that. There's a full list in there."

She reviewed some of the options, ruling out ones pertaining to spellcasting and brute force.

"Agility seems cool." She looked at him for approval.

"Ok, That's the same one I'm doing. I'm primary agility, secondary strength, and speed."

"Do I select it or something?" She tried poking the icon.

"Nah, just get an idea of what you want, when you level up you basically get to delegate what you want to spend your points in."

Kirito went on to go full nerd on her, showing his panel and various skills, discussing his plans on leveling and what not. After a few minutes she just smiled and nodded, admiring how cute he was when he was passionate about something.

"…What do you think, Sinon?"

She continued to stare at him.

"Sinon?"

"Hm? What?" Her attention snapped back to him, he had some screen with various stats and bar graphs showing. "Oh, sorry I zoned out." She giggled.

He groaned, and then jumped. The clock in the center of the arena had reached 0:00, and an ominous yet intriguing mist began to envelop on the field, causing the crowd to get more excited.

In the back of Kirito's mind, he wondered where Aaron and Asuna were, he'd check in with them later.

 _Tap Tap_

Kirito turned around and noticed an older woman and a small girl seeking his attention.

"Excuse me, but how do you log out?" She smiled, embarrassed she didn't know how to do such an easy function.

"Ah, open your menu with a swipe like this, options, then third option-" Kirito mimicked his own instructions, and noticed the button was missing. "Hm, odd. Sec."

The minute grew long, awkward even. He got embarrassed as he rifled through the menus and couldn't find it.

"What's wrong Kirito?" Sinon looked over.

"Yeah, sorry, I can't seem to find the logout button. Probably a bug or something." He closed the menu, finding it peculiar. The woman thanked him anyway. "Sinon, can you try and log out real quick?"

She blushed, remembering that she was holding his hand IRL, and quickly tried. Her blush faded when she too, noticed no log out button.

"Um, mine's not here." She frowned, biting her lip.

Kirito sighed. "Probably bugged. Oh well, the ceremony's starting."

They closed their menus, and looked towards the smoke, which had slowly bellowed into an enormous cloaked figure in the center of the arena, causing everyone to cheer.

Dozens of monitors floated around the arena, with blank screens, followed quickly by an epic voice that pierced through the air, from the floating figure.

"I am Akihiko Kayaba, and I want to welcome you all, from all across the globe, to my world."

The crowd _erupted_ in cheer, excited that the most anticipated game of the century was finally ready to kick off.

"… Before I allow everyone to enjoy my world, I deem it necessary to discuss some upcoming features to my game. As you all know, the Americas, and several other cultures celebrate the holiday known as Halloween. We will be having a harrowing week exactly two weeks from now, providing bonuses to all player vs. player benefits. "

More cheers came from the crowd, as MMO's were common to have fun holiday events with unique rewards.

"Oh nice, I'll try to participate in that a bunch" Kirito muttered, prompting Sinon to roll her eyes.

The screens floating around the stadium showed off some of the various transformations' towns would make when the festival was ongoing, they looked pretty badass.

"The harrowing week will maintain the night cycle for the entirety of the week so plan accordingly."

Amidst the crowd's cheers in the stadium, it was growing readily apparent that people wanted to get going and explore, and Kayaba seemed to pick up on it.

"I will soon permit access to the world, but there are some very important things you all should be aware of. The most innovative feature of this game is that there is no log out feature. I have deemed it as unacceptable within this system." He announced, just as jovial and excited as his previous announcement.

"Huh?" Kirito squinted his eyes, thinking he heard him wrong. Others seemed to share the same confusion.

"In addition." The voice continued to ring, heavily overpowering the sound of the people beginning to voice their disapproval. "The only way you are permitted to log out, is if you clear all 100 floors of Aincrad, this world."

Sinon glanced over at Kirito, and instinctively laid a hand on him. "Kirito, what's he talking about?"

Her pillar of strength, Kirito, was also at a loss for words. He briefly looked at her, then back to the figure in the center.

"Before I leave you, a warning." Kayaba declared.

The screens previously showing the various fictional cities covered in festive decoration were now filled with various IRL news broadcasting services displaying "Nervegear accident" and "Nervegear suicide" cases sprawling up worldwide.

"Removal of the Nervegear while playing SAO, or in the event your health points drop to 0, the Nervegear will administer enough radiation to your brain to kill you almost instantly. You should all briefly recall the uncomfortable sensation when you logged in."

Panic struck, people began to get up from their seats, and frantically try to access their logout features.

"Up." Kirito ordered, pulling Sinon out towards the exit.

"K-Kirito, is this real? What's going on?!" She followed, nearly tripping while being led.

"…Farewell, further updates will be manually fed through each and everyone's in game messaging system. I also left a present in all of your inventories."

Kirito and Sinon weren't looking towards the Stadium anymore. The sounds were growing in intensity behind them, as a full blown riot and pandemic was occurring.

"Kirito!" Sinon cried. "What is this?!"

He kept his pace, quickly looking down the corridors in the Town of Beginnings. When he finally turned around, he noticed her avatar was gone. He was looking into the eyes of his friend, Asada Shino. His expression flared up, as he looked down at himself. His own body was now in the game.

He immediately lifted up his shirt.

Scars.

Shino noticed them too, and looked down at herself. Within moments she was hyperventilating, having a full-blown panic attack.

"Sinon." Kirito rested his arms on her shoulders, trying to meet the dark eyes of his friend as she began shaking all over. They finally met his.

"W-What do.. What the fuck is going on… Why are we here? I want to go home, Kirito! Right now!" Her breathing continued to grow in intensity.

"Sinon."

"What What What?! What? Your scars, I think they're real…. Oh my god, how did we get into this?!"

"Sinon."

She stopped, and her breathing slowed. Still shaking, she weakly responded while crying quietly.

"What?"

"On your screen, I want you to transfer all your money to me, and then I I want you to follow me. Understood?"

Her brain somehow convinced itself if she followed his orders, she would magically appear safely back at home. She complied.

He looked up at his total balance, now 2,000 col. Nodding, he took her hand, and began jogging them towards the edge of the city. She remained quiet, and he did his best to not think about the reality of the situation.

After what seemed like only a few seconds, Kirito approached an NPC on top of a Carriage.

"Passage for two, take us to Morthrun."

The NPC, tone deaf like the rest of the non-playable characters in the city filled with panicking players smiled, and happily took 2,000 col to transport them.

"Head on in, and we'll be off!" He cheered. "The bandits around here have been active lately… I tell ya if I see one…" The npc began to use one of its automated scripts to rant for the next half hour while they traveled.

Kirito and Sinon sat alone in the back of the carriage. She was still holding his hand, while he buried his face into his other hand, distraught. It didn't feel real.

' _What the fuck is this shit? Trapped in a game? Surely we're getting trolled…'_ Kirito thought, and let out a massive sigh.

"Kirito?" Sinon asked, her voice weak. She looked tired.

"Hm?"

Looking at him, Kirito looked genuinely scared for the second time in her life.

"Are we going to be ok?"

He thought for a moment. He couldn't help but think back to the time at the post office. As a young girl, she held his hand and followed him there, and he was supposed to watch over her. As his vision became to focus on reality once more, her exhausted, post weeping expression filled with worry and seeking his safeguard pulled something deep inside him.

"Yes." He looked forward, hiding his eyes.

She crumpled down into his lap. For himself, he did his best to not show that his own tears had surfaced, feeling like yet again he had dragged her into harms way.

"…This time… I'll make sure of it."


	4. The Making of a Masterpiece

Morthrun proper was tame, and relatively out of the way compared to most of the towns on the first floor. Few players would venture this far, especially when it came to early leveling. Kirito liked it because during the beta he kept his home here, which likely wouldn't be the case now that the game was out. An enormous forest was adjacent to the town, with an entrance to it near the logging mill that had workers day and night. The pair hopped off from the caravan, looking around.

Now that some time had gone by since the ceremony, the initial shock dissipated, no longer at the forefront of Kirito and Sinon's minds, but still persisted.

Kirito led Sinon to a field near the entrance of the city, taking a seat on a log and opened his menu, waving Sinon over.

"C'mere. I'm going to walk you through this." He patted the log next to him.

"Alright." She was quiet.

"If this shit's real, which I don't know if it really is, we need to be extremely powerful. I don't know if people are going to try and P.K. during that harrowing event, but I don't want to chance it."

"Do you… Really think people will kill people for the bonuses? He said if our health reaches zero we really die." Sinon stirred, uncomfortable.

Kirito sighed.

"Yes. I think people will still P.K."

"Y-You were one of the top player killers right? How do you stop them?" Her heart rate increased, growing in anxiety.

"Relax." Kirito swiped his menu, showing her.

"Eh?" She looked.

"Leveling in this game, you have primary skills. When you level your primary skills, that is the _only_ way to increase your actual level."

She looked at his stats.

"You're not a very high level, it seems. Did they scale you down a bunch?" She looked around at his stats, it didn't seem out of the ordinary.

"Yes, down to 6. But, look at my primary skills."

Sinon studied, glancing around.

"Elemental magic… 14, Tinkering, 13. Bartering, 9." She gave him a confused look. "Why do you want those skills?"

Kirito grinned.

"Like I said, only those skills level me up. The rest are non-primary skills. I can level blade, armor, athletics, and all those as much as I want without it leveling me."

"Oh I see…. Your blade is already almost 100." She looked at him, still not sure as to why it mattered. "Why would you want to be low level?"

Kirito waved a few more screens open, showing the rest of his skills.

"This game has scaling, based on your level. If I were to go into a dungeon as a level 20, everything in there would be level 20. But, If I'm level 6, but as powerful as a level 20, I can solo everything."

She nodded. "That makes sense, I think that's a good idea considering we can't take any risks of our health reaching 0."

He closed the menu. "Luckily, I can still put all of my traits and skill points into my non primary skills."

She thought for a moment.

"Kirito, what if you accidentally level up?"

"Not possible." He shook his head. "Elemental magic, tinkering, and mercantile are all things I can manually control, I'd never accidentally level those. I have full control on my avatar's progression." He looked down, remembering he was in his own body. "My, progression."

"Okay." She felt relief, her older-brother figure seemed to have a solid plan.

"In the beta, I got a lot of my kills because people assumed, I was a lot weaker than I really was. For that reason, you shouldn't trust anyone, you'll never know their true strength."

"Well, should we start quickly? I don't want to get put behind." Sinon stood up, looking around the plains. The virtual fake sun felt real, causing her to squint her eyes and brighten up her face. Kirito couldn't help but notice her while she was so well lit. He stood up as well.

"Yeah, we'll get started here in a bit." He stretched, yawning.

The next dozen or so minutes was dedicated to Kirito helping her choose her primary skills, which were set up in a much similar fashion to his. They'd both have strict control on their leveling, which would allow them to grind their lesser-skills indefinitely.

The pair ventured on the outskirts of the city, casually chatting regarding their plans for the evening. It being nearly dark, and even darker due to the enormous dark clouds in the sky. It would likely rain soon, so their tasks for the evening would have to be quick.

Kirito sent DM's to Aaron and Asuna as they walked, checking on them and what their plans were. Hopefully they'd meet up and chat about the situation soon.

"Okay, Sinon. Send me a party invite please."

She did so, seeing his name appear in the top left of her user interface, showing his health bar.

"Got it."

"You're the party leader, which means any quests you accept are going to be scaled to level one. Let's do all the quests in Morthrun to get you beefed up a bit."

On the trail, which was loaded with hundreds of thousands of dead leaves and dampness showed a lone figure standing up ahead, with a green diamond on her head.

"There's one up there." Sinon pointed.

"Aye."

Approaching the woman, she appeared to be around their age.

"Oh! A young couple like you is exactly what I'm looking for! Could you bring me five Jaranda Orchid's from the forest? I'll need them for a customer."

Kirito didn't respond and looked to Sinon.

"Oh, hello, sure we can do that for you." Sinon smiled, not correcting her usage of the word couple.

…

Kirito watched, keeping a close eye on Sinon from a distance as she dealt with the various fodder that spawned in the forest around the quest area. Slimes slugs, and various small rodents were the extent of foes she faced. Sinon's accuracy with her bow due to raw talent was impressive, most of the beta testers required days of leveling to get access to the various aim assists found within the game. His inbox buzzed, a message from Aaron.

' _Hey man. I don't really know what to make of all this, let's meet up some time tomorrow and talk about all this shit. Don't do anything stupid. Love 'ya bud.'_

"You 'gonna help by the way?" An exhausted Sinon sassily remarked, walking her way over to Kirito. She was breathing somewhat heavily, not used to the extensive physical activity within VR. She pouted slightly but was also playful. She felt more relaxed now that they were active.

Kirito stood up, looking down at her, prompting her to continue to give him a pouted expression, except with a soft blush. Instinctively, he teased her by petting her hair.

"I would, but I'm just here to make sure you get through your early levels. I don't need any for a while. Keep up the good work." He sat back down and continued to go through his inbox.

Happy to be pet, she smiled, but continued to growl quietly as she went back to practicing, only needing two more flowers as drops from the mobs.

' _Also, Kaz. That harrowing event is bad news, you should pull up the info on it. It's going to remove the town PK'ing restrictions during the event. We should find a place to group up at during it, just in case._

It was true, the upcoming event would be a dangerous place for low levels, especially ones that aren't used to fighting. To think that someone would participate in the event, knowing the person you kill will die in real life… Kayaba must be a real sick fuck to put unique buffs and bonuses behind such an insane requirement. Would people really stoop that low?

His eyes averted to his childhood friend, whilst he pushed up his glasses. He watched her, eyes darting around the field as various weak monsters continued to come into view. Her eyes seemed to possess something new, a newfound vigor as if she was in control. It amazed him, all he had ever known was his quiet childhood companion who had always needed him, but something about holding a weapon awakened something deep inside her. Amidst his staring, she began jogging over.

"Kay, all done." She showed him her inventory, getting various junk drops in addition to the Jaranda Orchids.

"Neat." He looked up to the sky, biting his lip. "Reckon it's gonna' rain soon, let's head into town after cashing in our quest." He walked off, closing his inbox, she quickly walked up next to him.

" _Our?_ I did all the work! That wore me out" She teased, folding her arms.

"If I carry you, will you stop complaining?"

"N-No. Well, I would, but-"She stammered, looking the other way. "Hmph!" Despite pretending to be mad, she glanced back a few times curious of his reaction, but doing her best to appear petty.

He rolled his eyes and pulled out a few items from his inventory from the beta, ready to sell them once they were in town.

"Let's hustle up, It'll pour." Kirito remarked, feeling a few droplets splash onto his cheek, and spattering onto his glasses.

"Mm!"

They jogged, promptly completing the quest, and making their way to the closest inn within Morthrun.

Upon entering the inn, there was plenty of quests available. They'd probably do them over the next few days. Surprisingly for Sinon, there was no real players yet. Kirito had already moved to the bartender, selling some of his wares from the beta.

He approached her, key in hand.

"Got a room, let's check it out." He walked passed her, leading them upstairs.

"Kirito-Senpai, where are all the people?"

"Probably in most of the other cities; Morthrun wasn't popular in the beta due to its distance from the Town of Beginnings, and no real special quests. It's perfect to sort things out." He answered, unlocking their room, and heading inside.

There was a bathroom, a few desks, and a bed. It was relatively simple, but perfect for his needs. Sinon yawned and sprawled out on the bed like a starfish. Kirito on the other hand, sat down at one of the desks, and began to pull out his various tinkering equipment from his inventory.

"K—to?" Sinon, speaking muffled into a pillow.

"Hm?" He answered, getting to work. There was an enormous upgrade tree in front of him, spanning all the way from swords, down to his target goal. It would take literal months.

Sinon moved her face to the side, looking in his direction.

"Are we going to be okay?" Now that they were settled into a room, her fear from earlier seeped back into her head.

"Aye, Sinon. Get some rest." He placed his sword on the table and fumbled with his tools.

She responded but forgot half way through her sentence what she was saying. Exhaustion overtook her, as she gave out an enormous yawn, and went silent.

Ten minutes or so went by, and Kirito noticed she was fast asleep behind him. He sighed, looking at her. His own mental fortitude was strained, as he too, had concern regarding their safety. It still didn't feel real, this death game, it hadn't hit home. Looking down at his work, he had leveled up, and placed even more points into his Agility Speed and Strength, prompting him to be even more overpowered.

Levels aside, he stood up and moved over to the bed. She was hogging it which didn't really bother him. She groaned in resistance as he easily lifted and moved her under the covers instead of being draped all over the bed. Despite moving her, she didn't say more than his name before she was back to being asleep.

A few hours had gone by, Kirito was now feeling his eyes begin to sag and pull downward, prompting him to remove his glasses and begin rubbing them. His work bench was now littered with bits of metal, parts, and tools, as he worked endlessly towards his tinkering.

Abruptly, Sinon began heavily breathing, and shot up with a start, looking in both directions. Still half asleep, her nightmare tormented her in her half-conscious state, as she began to panic. The faces of the two burglars in the post office that tried to kill her burned into the forefront of her mind, and wouldn't go away.

"N-No! Don't do it...' Don't kill them!" Sinon shrieked.

Two arms wrapped around her, causing her to initially pull and twist away, but Kirito was more powerful than her. Her wriggling and panic began to slow, until the room regained its silence. In her bewildered state, a distorted version of Kazuto and Kirito escaped her lips, as she slowly fell back into her slumber. Stuck with his childhood friend half laying on him, Kazuto quietly and routinely ran his hand over her head, easing her back to calmness. He kept going until his own consciousness began to fade, into darkness.


	5. Aincrad's Real Threat

A struggling Kirito did his best to navigate his messages while his sleeping comrade continued to snore away on his chest. Upon attempting to wriggle away, Sinon would seemingly latch on even in her sleep, so he had forfeited escape roughly a half hour ago. With a heavy sigh he resigned and opened a message from Asuna.

 _Aaron and I will be in your city in a few hours. Let's chateroo._ It read 26 minutes old.

After taking a quick glance at his clock, he brought up the info regarding the harrowing event.

 _Players who kill another player will unlock a series of new skills that can only be further unlocked through more player kills. Examples are as follow:_

 _Paralyzing shot_

 _Poison Cloud_

 _Hell Bolt_

 _Infrared Gaze_

 _Metamaterial Optical Camouflage Mantle_

 _And many, many more!_

Kirito's focus was disturbed when a yawning Sinon gently pushed his face on accident as she woke up.

"About damn time. Can you move a bit?"

Stretching and yawning, the black-haired girl blinked a few times, and closed her eyes again. A few moments went by until she shot up, staring at him directly in the face with a blush.

"D-Did we.. did I…?"

Confused, Kirito closed his menu. "Hm?"

"Did we _sleep_ together?!"

"Aye. You flipped out last night and wouldn't let me out when I comforted you." Kirito responded, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling his boots on, and found his glasses.

She nervously adjusted her glasses, hiding her blush.

"I see. I forgot to tell you about the night terrors."

"Oh?" He finished getting dressed, looking at her. "That happens often?"

Ashamed of herself, she nodded. It made her jealous that despite them sharing the traumatic memory in the post office, Kirito had seemed unaffected by it compared to her. It didn't seem fair that over all these years she had to have random panic attacks and freezing up for no reason. It frustrated her, almost causing her to harbor feelings of resentment towards him. _Why does he not have to deal with all this? How come I'm the weak one?_

Her brewing feelings of bitter indignation immediately surrendered when she felt him give her a hug.

"…It'll be alright. If you ever need it, I'll do that for you."

"Okay."

 _A few hours later._

"And there he is. Hey Kaz, and Shino." Aaron waved, giving a hug to his friend. Asuna was close behind.

"Hey Aaron, glad you got here safely." Kazuto returned the hug.

Looking at Shino, and back to Kazuto discretely, Aaron muttered quietly: "Shit man, she's stuck in this too? I'm sorry dude."

"Aye, we're all fucked together."

"Kazuto!" Asuna yelled, tackling him, causing Shino to frown. The girl who was hugging her man (in her eyes) was utterly gorgeous, with absurdly long and beautiful hair, as well as very prominent features. "Also… I didn't know you wore glasses!"

"Hey, you made it. Sup" He laughed.

"Town of Beginnings was _scuffed_ dude. An all-out riot took place before we got out. Pretty sure a few people got trampled." Aaron added, and was quick to set up his gear on a nearby picnic table, ushering them over.

Shino did her best to introduce herself, feeling rather inferior to the older chestnut haired woman.

"Were you both there?" Kazuto asked.

"Mhm. I've got an idea to lower panic though." He took a seat, as did the others.

"Kazuto." Asuna asked, clasping her hands together. "We need to make a guild that will mass recruit and detain red players."

Kaz's eyebrows raised.

"You think so? Why's that."

"We think if there's an overwhelming majority of players against PvP'ers, then next to no one will participate in the harrowing event."

"Aaron, I think it's a shit idea." Kazuto shook his head.

"Oh yeah?"

"Aye, remember most of the people who are trapped in here with us aren't beta testers, they're all new. Also, how many people got the game at launch?

"Couple 'Mil. But yeah, you might be right. Recruiting in a bit less than two weeks is going to be aids. Why would the developers put a harrowing event so close to launch, especially with this death-game bullshit?"

"Maybe they want to test us. Maybe it's some messed up trick." Asuna added, looking a little solemn.

"Asada-San!" A familiar voice cheered, yelling over. He jogged over to the table where everyone was sitting.

"I'll… Be right back!" Shino awkwardly made her way off to greet Shinkawa.

The boy hugged her, and she returned.

"I was so worried about you, are you ok?" He held her shoulders, looking her up and down.

"I'm fine… Thanks. Some messed up game, huh?" She brushed her neck, smiling.

"I was terrified… But, I'm not scared. My brother and I have a plan. You should join us!" His eyes looked excited, with a tinge of depensation. He took one of her hands in his. "I will protect you, Asada-san"

She blushed and gave him a genuine smile.

"Thank you, Shinkawa." She bowed. "But, I think Kirito-Senpai wants me to stay with him for now. B-But, I'll add you!" She opened her menu, and sent him a friend request.

Visibly distraught, he glared over in the direction of the black-haired man sitting at the table, with his two friends. His gaze returned to Shino, with a forced smile. He awkwardly accepted the request.

"A-Are you sure?! Shouichi and I are traveling far from here soon." Kyouji begged, looking uncomfortably back towards his brother, who was waiting for him in the distance.

"Yes, but we'll stay in touch. Promise." Shino smiled, waving to his brother in the distance.

He didn't move.

"Oiii, Sinon. You coming?" Kirito waved, offering for her to join.

"Asada-san-"

"I'll see you later, Shinkawa-kun!" Shino quickly released her hands from the boy's grasp and jogged over to Kirito.

Peeking at Kyouji, Kirito gave him a peculiar glance.

"Oh yeah, forgot about him."

"Yeah, him and his brother are trapped in here with us." She mumbled.

"That's too bad. Even though I think he's annoying, I wouldn't wish that upon him. Anyway, Aaron and Asuna went into town. Want to go shop?"

"Mm!"

…

Split up, Kirito had visited one of the NPC tailors within Morthrun and spent a large portion of their funds on new gear, to prepare for the coming event. It was likely that they wouldn't be able to come into cities once it started, until it went away. Kirito opted to get a set of dark leather armor that he was able to stay mobile in. The straps leather and cloth were dyed black, hoping to attract as least attention as possible. Sinon sported similar gear, except her attire had shorter sleeves and ended just above her knees. When Kirito wasn't looking, she quickly bought a matching pair of glasses to his and tried to swap them without being too obvious. Once finished, the four of them met up in the town square and would embark towards the first boss on that floor.

…

The dungeon entrance, was an enormous mountain that towered all the way into the sky, touching the floor above them. Players, mostly beta testers flocked around the entrance forming parties and squads to head inside and deal with the first encounter. As each subsequent floor was cleared, it would open the next floor to any and all players to teleport to.

The mountain was well in view, as the party of four made their way towards it.

"Aaron, do you remember any mechanics for the first boss? I remember most of the people were farming it over and over in the beta."

"Eh, not really. It had some trash mobs that were kind of annoying, and an enrage phase when it gets below 25%. To be honest some groups may have already cleared it."

"Are we going to try to KS?" Asuna asked. KS'ing was short for "Kill Stealing" which was the act of scoring the last hit on a boss to get a bonus drop.

"Yeah save your main DPS until he's low, maybe we'll get a nice drop. Only go all out if someone's going to faint or gets low." Kirito felt awkward about it but preferred to say faint despite knowing the fate of those who died.

"Oh also, figured you should know. Pretty sure people think beta testers are going to abuse the harrowing event, so people might be a little aggro towards us."

Aaron was right.

"Well, luckily we've got Sinon here to be party leader. She joined the beta late, so I don't think they'll notice."

"I can't tell if that's a compliment or not, Kirito-Senpai."

"It's a good thing, trust me."

…

"Specs?"

A beta tester was near the dungeon entrance, marking down all of the people who entered. A catalog was necessary for each raid, and guilds set them up during the beta to help find what classes they needed to bring down bosses.

"Two Agility, One Strength, and a Speed." Kirito responded, walking through the door. His group followed along.

Players were all over on the inside. The monsters that were once guarding the halls were promptly dealt with and re-killed upon respawn. The cavern was naturally built, filled with only the light of the various players' torches.

"Keep close, Shino."

She nodded.

"Anyone and everyone partaking in the raid, left corridor. The Pioneers raid will begin shortly!" A random member of the public guild yelled, as people started to file down into the hall.

After a few minutes of awkward shoulder to shoulder contact, they reached a grandiose door, with roughly three dozen men and women waiting. Scanning the crowd, they still mostly seemed like beta testers based on their levels and gear. The leader, a blue haired man had just creaked the door open, ushering the people inside. His username read _Diabel._ Kirito chuckled slightly, he had killed this player three times in the beta because he'd always carry too much loot to carry on him after dungeoning.

"Kazuto, remember him?" Aaron elbowed him, smiling.

"Mhm, of course. He had mad stacks." They laughed.

Asuna swatted them both on the back of the head.

"You morons. Remember the circumstances."

"Right." They both surrendered.

"How did you know him?" Sinon asked, innocently.

"They bullied him in the beta." Asuna folded her arms, entering the boss chamber with them in tow.

" _We farmed his ass!"_ Aaron jeered in a hushed whisper.

Upon entering the enormous chamber, there was a large figure on the far end of the chasm. Brief red informational text appeared on their H.U.D.'s (Heads up display). It read:

 _ **Teleport Crystals have been disabled.**_

"That's lame, they kept this feature." Aaron swiped his menu closed.

"If we ever need to run, we can always OOC and then go back through the door." Kirito added.

"OOC?" Sinon asked again, feeling like the constant beggar for information.

"Means out of combat, basically far enough away from the boss that you're allowed to leave."

"Ah, thanks Aaron."

"No prob."

"Alright listen up, I don't know what these guys are doing, so we'll just take the left." Kirito glanced over at the thirty or so players mustering up for battle. "Sinon, take out the trash mobs that rush us, and we'll help you do so if they get too close. Once the boss is getting pretty low, we'll snatch and grab. Also, if these guys get low we'll help."

"Sounds good." Asuna nodded.

"Aye aye." Aaron pulled out his daggers.

"Alright everyone, let's begin the boss!" Diabel yelled, prompting all the players to push forward. Kirito and crew followed.

"Aaron, your armor looks like such shit."

"Oh yeah? Reckon I'm gonna' take that last boss hit from you."

"My money's on Kazuto." Asuna flirted.

An arrow whizzed past their heads and sunk into one of the approaching monsters. It was a dark blue skinned minotaur wielding a great axe, roughly a foot taller than Kirito. It wailed, making eye contact with its attacker. Powerful black eyes returned its glare, as Sinon prepared another shot and let it fly. The sounds of combat began to fill the room, as the boss's hordes had made their way into the fray.

The hulking monstrosity that was the boss was a fatter version of the smaller creatures, bolstering an enormous Warhammer that came down at slow, crushing speeds.

Unsheathing his sword for the first time in the game, Kirito skewered the creature that Sinon had softened up in the face with his blade and kicked its chest backwards. It wailed and materialized into thousands of particles before evaporating into the system.

Adjacent to him, Aaron threw his dagger at another minotaur at blinding speed. In a flash he jumped at the monster, pulling the dagger out of its face and slitting its throat in one motion. It too, fell.

Asuna had just removed her rapier out of a second beast, teasing the two of them.

"You boys going to be able to keep up?"

As Asuna made the comment, Sinon _nailed_ another one, putting her in the lead.

While their party made short work of the left front, Kirito kept a close eye on the other players battling the mobs, as well as the tanks in addition to Diabel engaging the boss itself. There hadn't been any problems, in fact the boss was melting. The trash mobs were being routed by the sheer number of players, and the boss was down to less than a dozen supporters. It was as he expected, the first boss was a pushover. It seemed as though the game was still too easy, and he wondered why. Was sword art online meant to be difficult for other reasons?

Now alone, and flanked, the boss was cornered on all sides by players, it's health in the lower yellows already. Asuna, Kirito, and Aaron met eyes, and then got serious. The trio rushed the boss, hacking away at its remaining HP. Aaron being the 'squishiest' was the default target of the enormous hammer, but easily rolled beneath him and dodged. While trying to turn around, Asuna and Kirito struck its blind spot, dropping its health narrowly low.

It howled, knocking all of them back, including a few Frontier members. Weak, and limping, it made one last failed attempt at pummeling Aaron into the ground, to which he plunged his daggers into his thigh. It's health now nearly one shot away, Asuna, Kirito, and Diabel were roughly the same distance from the boss.

Diabel quickly downed a stamina potion, and ran as fast as he could toward it, thrusting his blade towards its head, before Kirito or Asuna could land the final blow.

In one last scream, the boss fell dead, exploding into particles just before Diabel could pierce it. He awkwardly fell onto his face on the hard marble floor, as victory text appeared around the room. Cheers erupted, as people began congratulating each other, and looking for who got the last hit.

"Nice job Aaron, you get him with that last one?" Kirito asked, offering a hand to his friend who was still staggered on the floor. Asuna helped him up.

"No to be honest, you guys didn't get it? Fuck." He sulked back down, clunking his head on the floor. "Motherfucker."

The short black-haired girl walked over, with golden text on her head labeled _Boss Slayer_ in the same font as the victory.

"Oh dope, Shino got it!" Aaron yelled from the floor, relieved.

"Hey! Go you!" Asuna cheered.

"What did you get?" Kirito looked over at her loot.

 _Nidhogg – The Serpent Bow_

 _HARROWING BONUS: +5 PERMANENT STATS TO AGI, +3 TO SPD, +1 TO LUCK._

 _Note: All Harrowing Bonuses are transferred to a player in the event you are PK'd._

Kirito immediately grabbed her hand and forcefully X'd out the screen, so no one could see.

"What the fuck, why the fuck is there a harrowing bonus." Kirito panicked, looking around to see if anyone saw. "Did anyone see that you got that Sinon?"

"I… I don't know." She looked down. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take the kill-"

He grabbed her hand.

"Let's go." He started moving towards the entrance to the next floor, when a flock of people came to ask questions.

"Kaz, what's up? What happened?" Aaron quickly jumped up sensing something was wrong. Asuna followed.

"She got a fucking Halloween bonus that gets transferred if she gets PK'd. If people find out about that shit she's going to be a target." He was _fuming._

Had this been a normal game, that would be a fun mechanic, to see which player could get the most overpowered buffs by killing other players. But this was _real._ It would mean that Sinon would be a target, permanently.

"H-How do I get rid of it?!" She opened her menu, seeing the blatant red themed text showing her buff. She tried clicking it over and over.

"Sinon!" Kirito yelled, causing her to jump. He rarely got angry with her, but when he did, he meant business. "Close that. Now."

She obeyed.

"We can't do any more bosses." Asuna remarked. "Not until this event for Halloween is over."

They reached the portal to the second floor and saw a confirmation screen.

 _You are exiting the Floor 1 boss room. Please confirm to exit, final stats below._

 _ **TOP KILLS: AGIL**_

 _ **TOP HEALING: INORI**_

 _ **TOP DAMAGE: ITZAARON**_

 _ **MOST DAMAGE TAKEN: DIABEL**_

 _ **BOSS SLAYER: SINON**_

 _Loot: col (15,000)_

 _Nidhogg – The Serpent Bow_

 _HARROWING BONUS: +5 PERMANENT STATS TO AGI, +3 TO SPD, +1 TO LUCK._

 _Note: All Harrowing Bonuses are transferred to a player in the event the holder is PK'd._

 _ **[Confirm exit] I want to stay here**_

Asuna covered her mouth with her hand and looked over at Shino teary eyed.

"Fuck… Everyone here is going to see." Aaron looked down at the floor.

Sinon froze up, staring at the bottom of the text.

Kirito punched the confirmation, and kept walking forward, pulling her along.

"What do we do, Kirito?" Asuna asked.

"I'm going to kill as many bosses before this event starts as possible."

Determined, Kirito looked forward, at the oncoming crowd of people, until the magic that teleported them to the second floor completely enveloped their bodies, thrusting them to the second floor. Looking around, they were in some sort of marsh.

Aaron and Asuna looked at each other silently, concerned about their young friend. He gestured Asuna away to give the other two a moment.

"People will be here soon by the way, Kaz. I assume you're not in the mood to deal with all them asking questions." Aaron walked off, scouting the area.

Sinon, who looked particularly troubled, took off her glasses to wipe them of all the dirt from the fight.

"Those mine?" Kirito asked, taking off his own to check. They were the same.

She shook her head and kept fumbling with hers.

Taking her glasses out of her hands, he cleaned them himself, and put them back on her face gently.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, Sinon." He leaned down a bit, being at eye level with her. "I just don't want anything to happen to you."

She nodded quietly, feeling like crying.

Looking around at the rather repulsive landscape, he refocused his gaze on her.

"Let's get out of here, talk somewhere else, yeah?"

"Okay."

He smiled and followed after Aaron and Asuna.

Checking his calendar, they had roughly 10 days before the Harrowing PvP event started. That should be plenty of time.

Hopefully.


	6. Soon

Sleepless nights plagued Sinon as she lie wide awake in the second floor inn she and Kirito had stayed in for the last few days. She was worried, but Kirito insisted that she keep on training to become more powerful. He had become increasingly colder towards her and everyone, and would vanish at random times during the night.

This evening, Sinon was pretending to sleep in their bed when she heard Kirito rise from his work bench. She had grown used to him working on his tinkering skill every night, seemingly working on building stronger weapons.

She sat up startled when the door shut quietly, as he left out into the night again. She thought about asking him every time he left where he was going, but thought better of it.

The inn they were staying in was fancy, and once again, in the middle of nowhere on the second floor. Kirito demanded that they stay somewhere secluded, so she wasn't near any PvP scouts that may want her unique buff. It was drizzling outside, and she couldn't help noticing the subtle flash through the window that pierced through the darkness of the night. It was the flash that happened when someone used a teleport crystal.

Sinon sighed, wondering where Kirito could be going. She opened her menu and pulled up her friend's list. Kirito, Shinkawa, Aaron, and Asuna were all 'online', which helped ease her relaxed state.

After an hour or so of worrying, she finally began to relax, and fall asleep.

 _Buzz_

"Eh?" Sinon raised an eyebrow. She got an in-game notification in her mailbox.

 _A raid party has engaged the Floor 2 boss! Click below to view the Live Broadcast._

She instantly clicked the holo-link.

 _Raid: Hall of the Damned_

 _Time of Raid start: 01:37_

 _Raid Capacity: 1/250._

 _Roster:_

 _Level 14; Kirito._

Sinon looked at the individual letters of K-i-r-i-t-o repeatedly until it wasn't recognizable, in disbelief that it was real. A cold chill rose up her spine, worrying for him.

'What's he doing?!'

Pulling over her friends list back open, she kept opening the wrong names and menus due to her hands shaking, and finally hovered over Kirito. Sure enough, his name was listed as inside Hall of the Damned.

…

Kirito, emotionless, walked through the enormous boss gate alone, and walked towards the horde of skeletons that were before him. Where most would pause and calculate the situation, Kirito did not break his pace for even a moment. While calmly walking into the first dozen of enemies, he casually opened his menu and brandished both of his blades, and began an onslaught of death and speed.

The boss was below him in a relatively small circular chamber, flanked by two skeletal archers and a legion of warriors between the two. Its bones were burnt and stained with blood, staring up at him with hateful, dead eyes.

The melee between Kirito and the grunts went on for a few minutes, as he prioritized avoiding attacks rather than landing his own. It only required him to land one strike on each skeleton to have It burst into a pile of bones. Between each kill, one of the archers usually found an opening to fire an arrow, requiring him to respect it through either backing off, or doing his best to block it with a blade.

Annoyed at his imprudence, the boss drew its own weapon, a flatbow that had been resting behind his throne. It yelled an incomprehensible order, causing the skeleton to skitter away from Kirito, and form an enormous circle around the two of them. It laughed, cockily, and raised its arm.

The sounds of bows, bowstrings, and arrows being prepared surrounded Kirito, as more than twenty bows were now aimed directly at him. He quickly planted both of his blades in the ground and took a knee. He clasped his hands together, awakening some of the rather weak elemental magic that he had in his arsenal as a primary skill.

The fiend stamped his foot forward and roared, and the arrows flew true.

"Magnetic Aura." Kirito muttered, feeling body react oddly, as if he had just gone down a hill on roller coaster.

A magnetic wave pulsed around him once, causing a sharp metallic sound to whine in the air, followed by all twenty of the arrows flying back to their senders at blinding speeds. Many of the arrows burrowed through the skeletons skulls and stuck into the walls.

As if he had never stopped, Kirito pulled his blades out of the dirt and began walking toward the boss again with a determined stare. It was already dead in his eyes.

Upon seeing his troops decimated by the failed ranged attack, the leader threw its bow to the side and withdrew its own two-handed sword. Despite being a boss, it was the same height as Kirito, but the sword it carried was also just as large. Its strength was massive, as it carried and used the blade as if it wasn't heavy at all.

The ensuing fight was entirely one sided. With every move the foe made, Kirito would match it and apply damage. A downward swing, Kirito would dodge, and slice the underside of its arms. An attempted kick to his chest, he grabbed the entire foot and tossed the boss onto the ground. A two-handed stab, Kirito parried, slicing one of the creature's hands off. It was pure business.

Reaching red health, the boss retreated and seemingly began to prepare a large attack. Kirito slid his blades together, sparking a flame to erupt on each, due to his primary skill. Flaming swords in hand, he was just about to reach the boss before the enormous sword it had been wielding was thrust through Kirito's chest, as both of his blades skewered the boss.

His health points dropped to 98%, and the boss crumbled over, and dissipated into dust.

Sinon continued to watch from her H.U.D. and felt a wave of relief seeing Kirito victorious. She jumped hearing several knocks on her door. At this hour?

Walking over, Sinon peeked through the small hole in her door, and identified the culprit as Asuna. She promptly opened for her.

"Asuna, what's going on?"

Walking inside, Asuna blushed instantly.

"Kirito's things… You two share a room!?"

"U-Um…" Sinon hesitated, but felt a competitiveness rise deep in her stomach, prompting her to move to the side to give full view of the single bed and perhaps let Asuna assume. "It saves money."

Annoyed, Asuna marched over to his work bench, looking at his things.

"Did he tell you he was going to go do stupid things?"

"No. He didn't tell me anything." She looked down, slightly hurt that he didn't let her know.

"Well, when I see him, I'm going to punch him. He's being reckless."

"What should we do, Asuna-San?"

Asuna sat on the foot of the bed, still jealous of Sinon. Pulling up her own stream of the Second Floor boss battle, apparently the live feed was gone, and now just showed that the party was victorious and that the third floor was unlocked. He had also gained a unique stat buff like Sinon's, causing her to worry.

"If he knows what's good for him, he'll unlock the third floor's town. Otherwise, someone will have to go walk through the dungeon and unlock it manually. He already cleared it, but it'd still be a pain in the ass."

Sinon bit her lip.

"I don't think he's going to unlock the third floor for everyone."

"What? Why not?" Asuna's brow raised.

"The other day when I got this bonus" Sinon pulled up the harrowing event bonus. "-He said something about killing as many bosses as he could before the event."

"Reckless AND an idiot." Asuna growled. "Did he respond to your private messages by any chance?"

"I didn't send any." Sinon shrugged.

"When he opens that third floor, I'm SO going to punch him…" She repeated.

…

Kirito walked through Snowstadt, the main town of the third floor and munched on a sandwich he had purchased from an NPC. The sun was rising, and ironically the floor had no snow at all. It was practically a desert. His inbox which was now full and red with a warning sign next to it, indicating it was full, continued to pester him to open them. He sifted through the various 'where are you' and 'what are you doing' mails from his friends and gave brief replies to each.

The town square become visible, as well as the teleport center. All he had to do was just touch it, and players would be allowed to come here. He stretched, and opted not to, and enjoyed the privacy for a while. People would catch up soon anyway.

'I'll be gone for a few days, y'all will be fine.' Kirito wrote to Aaron, Asuna, and Sinon. 'If you have questions you can DM me here.' He added to Sinon's, remembering she was still relatively new.

Regarding Kirito's stats, loot, and gear, he was extremely overpowered already. He had been losing sleep to keep his skills high level, especially within combat. In a way, he was his own tank and dps.

Exhausted having pulled an all-nighter, he yawned, and made his way east, the direction of the next floor boss and dungeon. His goal was to bust out as many floors as he could, and he was making good progress. With his food depleted, he continued to sip on coffee while making his way across the dry cracked wasteland of a desert.

…

 _Three days before the harrowing_

On the twelfth floor, Kirito slapped the teleport node allowing everyone access. He was now armed with over 10 unique bonuses, giving him raw stats as well as a few interesting skills. His level was still only 16, but his minor skills were _absurdly_ high. The only thing he was wearing that was the same as before were his glasses. The rest of his attire was now covered by a heavy black cloak, that hide all of his tools and smaller weapons within it. His boots were heavy, yet had an enchantment that allowed for silent movement, and maintained their anti-weather perks due to the material it was made with. His swords were his own crafted ones, giving bonuses for being player-made weapons, but unfortunately coming at a high cost of materials. His habits of solo play helped ensure good drops.

On the 8th floor, he purchased a small plot of land in secret that was nestled below a waterfall, hidden from view. As players got their own homes, they could craft a crystal that warped them there, and was his main source of movement.

The population of Aincrad's remaining players, but the total death count was now over 30,000. The number was easily found on the front menu of game statistics, as if the game creators were bragging. Guilds had formed, some with thousands of players. Many were general guilds that recruited anyone and everyone and sorted out the members based on profession, as well as people who simply didn't want to play and wait for someone to clear the 100th floor.

Rumors of PvP guilds forming had also surfaced, with reports of certain roads and dungeons becoming dangerous due to questers not returning. Kirito was yet to encounter a red player on his solo adventure.

While everyone began filling into the 12th floor, Kirito himself warped back to the third floor, specifically Snowstadt. Near the end of town, there was a plaza that was usually hoppin' with player activity over the last week. He was visiting a particular friend he had met.

Opening the shop, a girl annoyingly shouted at him.

"We're closed!"

"Like hell you are." Kirito smiled, walking up to the pink haired girl. "Hi Lis."

"Oh! Mr. Kazuto!" She ran out from her office and waved. "I have your stuff."

He opened his menu, sending her 12,000 col, while she lifted a few boxes onto the counter.

"Thanks a lot." He began taking them and depositing them into his material storage.

"So, you still haven't told me, what do you need all of these metals and materials for?"

"It'll take a few months." He looked at his tinkering skill, staring at a benchmark. "It's a weapon."

"Oh? A new badass sword or something so you can keep doing those raids?" She teased.

Staring near the bottom of the skill tree, his eyes rested on the high-powered anti-material sniper rifle. It read:

 _Tinkering skill: 41/500._

"Something like that, yeah." He closed the menu, with a sigh. "Anyway, how's business been? New players doing ok?"

"Mhm! People are starting to make their way through here and the upper floors, me included."

"That's cool. Sorry I always have to come here to level my bartering skill, it's one of the only ways I can actually level up."

"You owe me one." She rolled her eyes, thinking back on the last few days.

When it comes to leveling bartering, the skill goes up based on each individual sale. Selling 100 arrows yields small amounts of exp, whereas selling 100 arrows one arrow at a time gives 100x the experience. It was frustrating, but it allowed Kirito to level up whenever he wanted rather than on accident.

"Mhm. I'll be back in a few days probably."

"How about you just take me on a date?" She yelled.

"Maybe next time!"

He exited her shop and looked at the baking sun that would be giving him a sunburn if it was real life. While contemplating what he'd do for the rest of the day, and see if he could do the next floor, a naggy voice called his name.

"Kazuto!"

Asuna tackled him as he looked her way.

"Hey." He muffled from underneath her.

"Hey?!" She growled, looking at his face, her inches from his.

"Hey." He smiled.

She looked as though she was about to punch him.

"I was worried sick, y'know?" She pouted.

"Sorry." He was blushing slightly, seeing how close they still were. "You look cute when you're worried."

She folded, her expression weakening to his compliment. She also didn't stop him from gently pushing her up as he regained his footing.

"Thanks, but… Still, don't do that solo stuff again. I was miserable over it."

"We'll see. Got a few more that I want to do." He admitted.

"Kazuto!" She growled.

"Yes?" He didn't back down just because of her aggressive tone, causing her to go back to being passive.

"…Take me with you?"

"I think you'd help a lot, actually. But I'm trying to put all the attention on me for this harrowing event. It'd just put you in danger."

She sighed, biting her lip.

"That's so annoying, Kazuto."

"After the event passes, things will go back to normal. Promise."

"Fine."

Desperate to change the topic, he gave her a quick look over.

"You look good, got some new gear?"

Her attire changed from the starting basic clothes to a celestial white and ruby red outfit that looked more feminine. Her rapier matched her armor, which was relatively light weight, having some of her legs exposed and the entirety of her arms.

"Yeah, Aaron and I joined a guild and got some matching gear to the guild colors. We both got officer."

"Quick progression, games only been out a week."

"Mhm." Her eyes kept staring into his, he couldn't help but feel attracted to her. He's been after her for a few years.

"Tell you what. I'm going to get Shino all tucked away at my place on the 8th floor so she can be safe during the event. After that, want to go on a date?"

A crowd was beginning to form, as more and more players recognized Kirito as the player who kept solo'ing raids on their live feeds.

"U-Um… Sure…" Asuna blushed, unnoticed by Kirito. He looked around and noticed the onlookers.

"Lot of people here, think I'm going to head out. I'll message you later, yeah?"

Asuna nodded with a smile, watching him adjust his glasses and run off.

He made his way to the teleport center, and shot Sinon a message,

' _Floor 8, come come.'_

Navigating his teleport crystal, Kirito made his way there and grabbed a nearby bench.

Within ten minutes, after watching a few random players teleport in he finally saw his friend appear, sporting her bow acquired from the floor 1 boss.

"Hey, how've you been!"

"Kirito-Senpai!" Shino hugged him, giving him a reassuring squeeze. After a few moments she shivered. "Holy bonkers it's cold."

"Just like IRL." He laughed, throwing his coat on her, which she quickly snuggled under. "Welcome to the coldest floor in Aincrad."

The floor was like a winter wonderland, Kirito's favorite weather. Something about snow made him feel at ease, prompting him to choose this floor to be his home. The two set off down the ice-covered road, occasionally slipping around and nearly falling. Amidst their pleasant conversation, Kirito ominously kept checking the timer in game.

' _Soon.'_

No matter which of his friends was with him, his smile was a lie. He was utterly terrified.

…

 _A random dungeon, location unknown._

"And the girl?" A gruff voice asked.

"She's mine! No matter what happens, Asada-san is all mine!" A desperate red player yelled from under a cloak.

"Pfft, whatever. I really don't give a shit either way, but you're saying she'll lead us to that raid clearer?"

"Absolutely, brother." Skinkawa gulped.

"Quiet you two. We'll proceed as planned. Kirito will be our primary target."


	7. Red Players

_The second to last night before the harrowing._

Still short on breath, Kazuto sat up on the edge of the bed, checking the time.

"Going so soon?" A naked Asuna mumbled from beneath the covers.

"Nah. Not yet." He stretched and let himself fall back onto the bed.

"Hm…. Good." She poked his face.

"What made you choose the 6th floor?"

"Lack of popularity, I suppose. I like the idea of a hidden paradise." Asuna yawned. "But, I have to help with patrols during the harrowing event."

"Hm, okay."

"So, are you going to tell me why you went and did all those bosses alone? The real reason?"

Kirito covered himself and turned his head on the pillow looking at her.

"Shino got that unique buff, so I figured it would put a target on her back. I don't really know if she'll spend the time to get really good at this game to be able to fend off PvP'ers, so I figured I'd take the risk instead."

"That's… Really sweet of you. I'm surprised you'd go so far for someone." She smiled.

"Well, it's Shino." He immediately responded.

"What does that mean?" She asked.

"Well, of course I'd do it for her."

Asuna couldn't help but feel slight pain at those words, wishing it was her at the top of his priorities.

"Why, err, how did you two grow to be so close? You've never told me. She's always been with you since I've met you."

"We used to be neighbors, when we were little. Our parents would always have me watch after her, walk her home from school, things like that."

Asuna nodded, holding a pillow between the two, watching him.

"…And one day we were caught up in a burglary, where I ended up trying to defend her from some lawbreakers. Long story short, we both ended up shooting the criminals with their own guns, but the rest is a little hazy for me. She remembers it better, I remember getting knocked out."

"Really? I don't mean to say you're lying, but wow. That's quite a story."

"Mhm." Kirito sighed. "Now I feel responsible for her. I don't want that to ever happen again, you know? This is my chance to make it up to her and protect her for real."

Asuna was impressed, but also a little jealous. His story was heartbreaking, but she couldn't suppress the emotion within her wanting him to be _her_ knight in shining armor. Even though they had just made love, it was purely physical. She yearned for what he had with Shino.

"…Asuna?"

"Hm? Yes? Oh. Yes, I understand." She snapped back to it, her mind had been wandering.

"But yeah, that's where I'm at. Hopefully everything dies down after this harrowing event, and I can put my focus back on the game."

Kirito adjusted to his back, folding his arms behind his head.

"Do you love her?" Asuna asked, still staring at him.

"Love?" He laughed nervously, with a smile, and then paused. "I… Don't think so? I've just known her forever, she's like a sister, y'know?"

"I see. She loves you, y'know." Asuna hid behind her pillow, also nervous.

"Eh?" He looked over at her, confused.

"I can tell by the way she looks at you. She really _really_ loves you."

"I don't know about that." He rolled his eyes and looked back towards the ceiling. "Anyway, are you going to be chilling here until the event blows over? Towns and cities won't be safe, and It'll always be night time apparently."

Slightly bothered, she nodded causing the blankets and pillow to ruffle.

"Will you be visiting at all during it?" She asked, slightly scared.

"I mean, I can if you want." Kirito sat up once more, working his clothes on at the edge of the bed.

"I'd let you."

"Just." Kirito worked a short over his head and continued. "Just be careful alright? Don't trust anyone, act for yourself. Message me or Aaron if you need anything."

Asuna stirred beneath the sheets, wracking her brain for any way to keep the conversation going and prevent him to leave. As she came on empty, Kirito was now fully dressed and making his way to the door.

"Ok." Her voice was weak, and her heart was pumping. She knew she just had to say _something._ Despite the cognitive dissonance wreaking havoc on her Psyche, Kirito paid no mind to it and waved her off from the door.

"I'll see you later then."

When the door shut, Asuna felt as though she had sold herself short, and resigned, yet didn't know why. Tired from their previous physical activity, she hugged her pillow in thought before drifting asleep.

…

Shivering from the nightly blizzard, Kirito fumbled his door open and walked into his home on the 8th floor, beginning to feel the fatigue for himself. As he worked his boots off, his mind was lingering on a few comments Asuna had made regarding Shino.

"You're back." A half asleep Sinon weakly whispered from the couch. She had a weird habit of waiting for him to arrive home whenever he went out late at night.

"Mhm. What are you still doing up." Kirito walked over to her and scooped her up. "C'mon, off to bed."

"I'm not a kid you know, Kirito-Senpai." She giggled. Her giggling ceased when her nostrils detected something off. She increased her awareness to her nose, subtly sniffing a few times.

His hands that were carrying her were now feeling slight tingles to the touch, one along her back and one along her legs. _'She loves you, y'know.'_ He looked down at her face while turning the corner in the hall, and couldn't help but notice how cute she looked, seeing the slight stain of drool on the side of her mouth from her waiting on the couch for him.

' _Why am I having these thoughts now?_ '

Reaching their destination, he playfully dropped her onto the bed, making his way back to the living room to ponder. Frustrated, he couldn't decipher why his mind was now viewing her as almost a stranger, like she was another potential female that he could _be_ with.

"Where were you by the way?" She asked from behind him, still curious of the scent she smelled.

"Asuna's." He answered without time to consider telling a white lie, his mind was too busy racing. He was thinking back on all the times him and Shino had been intimate, and it was causing his chest to begin tightening up. They had held each other, slept, hugged numerous times, and he felt like she was one of the only people on this planet that he could truly trust, and could go to with anything.

While Kirito was experiencing his amateur emotions, Shino felt crushed a bit knowing he was at Asuna's, as well as had a sneaking suspicion they did something. She wasn't dating Kirito, and he told her the truth, but it still made her sad regardless.

 _Soon._

The creeping thought of the harrowing returned to her, causing her to forget the menial emotions of lovesickness. She thought about the various ways people may try to kill her, whether it be sneaking into this hidden house, or perhaps finding her when she was out in the wilderness and attacking her. The two faces of the burglars at the post office appeared in her mind, permanently etched into her memory. She felt like screaming, still feeling what It felt like being dragged by the hair across the post office's floor.

It was too much. Her awareness of her exterior was abandoned, and she began having one of her episodes from the post traumatic disorder. She looked around the bedroom frantically, the shadows seemingly morphing into various monsters and demons, seeking to crawl into her bed. Panting, she looked down at her hands and was hallucinating the same pistol that she shot one of the men with and tried to drop it. For whatever reason, she couldn't drop it, but felt her hands slowly raise it to her own forehead.

Her scream filled the house, prompting the light to flick on and Kirito to run over to her.

Kirito was no immortal, and also suffered similar episodes sometimes, and was well experienced with her on these panic attacks.

"Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" She yelled, trying to push him away. It was as if she was blind and fighting off unseen foes.

Kirito was hit, pushed, scratched, but he ignored her. He grabbed her and held her as hard as he could, forcing her into a hug.

"Hey, hey hey, It's okay. It's alright." He eased.

She was still pushing away at him, panicking.

After a few minutes of his repeating himself and easing her, she stopped her assault and went limp.

He pulled away from her and looked down at her misty-eyed expression. She had always been ashamed when that happened. As far as Kirito knew, he had just walked away, and she freaked out, but knew better than to just assume it was her being crazy. He understood the pressure they were under.

"Sorry." She sniffled, and gave an embarrassed laugh.

"It's alright." He felt the urge to pet her, but froze. His eyes wandered to her slightly parting lips and took a mental note on how soft they looked. Her breathe was slightly visible due to the cold nature of the floor and caused him to focus on each of her exhales.

Sinon wiped her eyes with her sleeves and let out an exasperated sigh. "I'll be fine."

Kirito was still stuck, unsure as to why he always pets her instinctively, and specifically didn't this time. After a few more moments of thought, he stood up and motioned to leave.

"I'll be in the other room. You can uh, shout again if you need me." He teased. It was relatively safe for him to joke with her about these sensitive topics due to their long-term friendship and experience. It helped them not let it control their lives.

She rolled her eyes and let her head slam back on the pillow, making annoyed and incomprehensible growls and mewls as she stretched.

On the couch, Kirito continued to battle with himself wondering what he should do. Her words kept repeating in his head, until he slowly drifted off to sleep.

…

 **The Final Day**

"Think that's everything." Kirito looked over to Aaron, who was in his inventory menu.

"Yeah we're good. Aside from these potions and the repair tools we got, is there anything else you wanted to pick up?" The two were standing alone with a horde of NPC's in the market plaze of a 7th floor main city. It was relatively barren of players.

"Nah don't worry about it. I'm surprised though, everyone seemed to fuck off to the rally points those guilds set up to hold out during the event. Also trade me some of those real quick."

While Aaron gave him supplies, the two kept their eyes on the sun shining overhead on the corners of their eyes. It would slowly be descending soon, for an entire week. It was a miracle that so many players were able to find guilds protection and not have _total_ anarchy within the game.

"We'll be doing patrols around towns, and let people continue to relax within starting City, and Camebrooke on the first floor. What about you, want to come help?" Aaron was twirling a dagger in his hand, bored.

"Maybe, I was planning on just helping people who are too stupid to find somewhere safe, or if they get lost."

"What if they think you're a PK'er?" It was quite common for "helpful" people to bait ignorant players with a friendly visage, just to turn on them.

"I'm quite convincing."

"Oh yeah?" Aaron quirked.

Kirito's message box was lit up, he hadn't realized it. During their trade screen he noticed it.

 _Four Hours Ago_

 _From: Sinon_

 _Kirito-Senpai, I'm going to be on the 4_ _th_ _floor with Shinkawa for a bit before the event starts. His brother needs help in Brimhaven for a quest. I'll be back at 6:00 PM sharp! Also, thanks for last night. I feel better thanks to you. :)_

He checked the clock, it was just past 4:30.

"Ight Aaron, I'm gonna run and make sure Sinon's good to go, she's out with that dweeb from school right now."

"That kid from the lunch table? Fuck me twice, didn't think he'd play. Feels bad."

"Yeah yeah, it is what it is. See you, be careful."

"Ciao." Aaron walked off, pulling out a pouch edibles.

…

Sinon and Shinkawa were in a forest, local to that of Brimhaven. Despite how weird her friend was, she was glad that she could be around a familiar face in such a strange world. The rain was subtle, as if it were shy to release any more than a drizzle. It was almost as if Aincrad was experiencing the calm before the real storm.

"Shouichi and his guild are doing which dungeon again? I'm surprised your brother would let someone like me come." Sinon called forward to Kyouji, nearly tripping on a damp log. "Also, why can't we just use the path? I hate exploring like this."

"Don't worry, Asada-san. We're almost there." Shinkawa smiled eerily.

"What was his guild's name again? You never told me."

Before Shinkawa could answer, the sound of a woman screaming from further into the forest caused them both to jump. Birds were startled out of the trees in that direction, and began flapping away from the commotion.

Staggering back, Sinon felt like running.

"W-What was that?"

Also uneasy, Shinkawa creeped towards where the sound came from, and motioned Sinon to come with him.

"Asada, I think she needs our help." He looked back through the bushes towards a player, marked by the green symbol.

Sinon got close to Shinkawa, and cautiously looked towards the sound of the scream. There was a player named ' _Hinterhalt_ ' keeled over, with yellow health.

Before Sinon could say anything, Shinkawa ran towards the woman helping her up.

"Please! You have to help my friend! Those monsters just took him into that cave!" She desperately looked at Shinkawa, and then to a slowly approaching Sinon.

"U-Um… Are you okay?" Sinon kneeled, offering a healing potion to the woman. She accepted it instantly and downed it, replenishing her health to green.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. But those things… Please we have to do something, I saw them go that way." She pointed towards a narrow path with a slight mist around the trail. It seemed devoid of plants and animals, giving Sinon a sick feeling to her stomach.

"Just lead the way, I'll save your friend." Shinkawa affirmed, surprising Sinon with his sudden maturity.

' _Since when was he this driven?'_

Shinkawa's growth caused her own confidence to swell up within herself, and made her feel as though she too, could change. If someone with as many 'interesting' characteristics as Shinkawa can become a hero, then maybe she could too. Maybe this is how Kirito was used to feeling.

"Quick! Come this way." The woman began to run into the mist, Asada and Kyouji following closely.

After a few minutes of a seeming endlessly twisting path, she began to worry.

"Shinkawa-Kun, did you tell your brother where we were going?" She huffed, still jogging. After a moment of no response, she looked to her left and didn't see _Spiegel_ , his in game name anywhere. She stopped running. "Shinkawa-kun!?"

The fog seemed to creep up around her feet, prompting her to pull out Nidhogg and draw an arrow. After a few moments of silence, she stowed her arrow and began to run as fast as she could from where she came. She couldn't see more than a foot in front of her but ran anyway.

"Asada-san!" She heard in the distance, it sounded relatively far way.

"Shinkawa!? Where are you-" She let out a light whimper, and fell to her knees, feeling her vision go hazy. She felt a small sting in her neck and grasped at it. It felt like a small dart-like object had implanted itself in her flesh, and her vision went to black.

…

Kirito yawned, resting in his home on the 8th floor. It was quickly approaching 6:00, but he hadn't heard back from Sinon yet. He was watching the sun go down, knowing it would not be back for a while. He had written her a message shortly before, but hadn't received a reply, nor had she read it, due to the read receipt.

Relief washed over him when he heard his message notification, and quickly popped his menu open. The subtle squeeze in his chest of worry returned when he noticed it was just an in-game mail regarding that the event would begin in six hours.

' _Player killing will be given unique bonuses… PK'ing in towns will be allowed during the duration of the event.'_

Closing the prompt, he continued to rock his foot impatiently waiting, keeping an eye on the clock.

…

Sinon blinked a few times, as her consciousness came to fruition. She went to lift herself up, only to find that her hands were bound behind her back. She gasped and looked up, seeing several other people in the same position as her, tied up and lying on the ground., She thought about yelling for help but closed her mouth upon seeing a few players with red diamonds patrolling up and down the lines of green incapacitated players. PK'ers.

Her heart rate quickened, causing the prisoner next to her to make eye contact with her, and they were shaking their head furiously. Sinon closed her eyes and tried to calm down, feeling just as exposed as she did when she was a child in a similar hostage scenario. She counted her breathes and began to feel a cool warmth enter her head to combat the anxiety attack.

' _Okay. Where am I'_ She looked around, and at the ground she was lying on. It was dirt, and she could still make out several trees, even though the sun was almost set. It would be pitch black out soon.

' _Is Shinkawa here?_ ' She studied the faces of the hostages near her in the line, doing her best to examine them. She recognized no one and did her best to remain subtle and not attract attention.

Her attention focused on the small yellow blinking lightning bolt near her health bar, indicating that she was paralyzed, due to an in-game skill. Her health seemed to be okay. The final variable Sinon didn't know was _why_ player killers were taking hostages. She thought long and hard about what Kirito had told her and made the hypothesis that they were all going to be killed after the event started, to give the killers in game bonuses.

The ongoing hour was grueling, as Sinon continued to analyze her situation. More and more people were being brought over, but there was nothing she could do due to being paralyzed. She wanted to call out Kirito's name and knew the blinking messages stacking up were from him. She remained quiet, and carefully watched as the duration on her paralysis was now down to 40 minutes. Perhaps if she pretended to be paralyzed when she wasn't, she could make a getaway.

"There, one's getting away!" A cloaked man pointed, and two hooded figures bounded down onto the running green player. Within seconds they were struck down by one of the assassin's wielding dual daggers, and they exploded into pixels. A status symbol reading _'DEAD'_ remained where they fell, in addition to the player's green marker.

The various green players shrieked, specifically the ones who were near the one that was just put down.

"Oh, you liked that? You'll be next, soon." One of the red players giggled.

"Quiet Dax, isn't that time yet." The older one scolded.

"Who gets this one? She's got a unique." The skittish one walked over to Sinon, prompting her to clamp her eyes shut.

"XaXa probably. We'll see. Come along now."

The two red players got further and further away, Sinon gaining the courage to open her eyes again.

' _I shouldn't have left Kirito-Senpai's side, not even for a moment.'_

Her thoughts were canceled when she felt the presence of another. Two boots planted firmly in front of her, and she could feel something looking at her. Sinon looked up and saw two gleaming red eyes staring back down at her from behind a mask.

…

 _10:37, 4_ _th_ _floor, Brimhaven_

"Kazuto, what's wrong? Make it quick, I don't want to be here long." Asuna had to practically jog to keep up with Kirito who was speed walking towards the town exit.

"Sinon's missing, and I know she's on this floor. Can you tell me which dungeons or towns are known to have suspicious activity?"

"Oh no… Um... Let me check. Wait, if she's in a dungeon, won't it say on your friends list?"

"Good point, it just said 4th floor." He paused, looking at her.

"That means she's not in a town, and she's not in a dungeon of any sort. She's just out in the wilderness. Use the trade bug, try to request a trade with her from your friends list, and you'll get an error saying you are too far from the recipient, and it'll give you an arrow."

"Thanks, Asuna. I owe you one."

"I can come with you, I wouldn't want you to-"

"You'll only slow me down. Thanks again." Kirito vanished, and made his way towards the error message displaying where Sinon was. It was only four miles away.

Ideally, she was with Shinkawa and had just lost track of time. The odds of that being the case were low, due to her high priority on PK'ers lists, as well as her not responding to his messages. He knew very well that he was walking into a fight, or a trap. He didn't care.

…

Sinon was now on her knees, shoulder to shoulder with dozens of other prisoners, on the far end of the line. Her eyes were empty and hopeless, she was ready for it to be over. She wasn't strong enough.

An enormous bell began ringing in the sky, marking the beginning of the harrowing. Cheers and laughter surfaced from various directions around her, assuming the Player Killers were spread throughout the whole forest.

"There it is boys, go ahead and start. Left to right, now!" A leader barked.

Sinon's daze ended abruptly when she began hearing screams getting closer and closer to her, as prisoners were being killed. She closed her eyes, and tried to drown out the sounds of panic, and bring awareness to anyone behind her. It appears the red players had all congregated down towards the mayhem, leaving her an opening.

Carefully, she slowly scanned the whereabouts in front of her, squinting her eyes to see through the darkness of the night. There was nothing but trees, perhaps if she made it to the tree line she could lose them. Without looking behind, Sinon dashed out from her faked paralysis pose and sprinted towards the darkest part of the forest, and threw herself into some knee high grass when she heard someone nearby.

She felt an arm grab her shoulder, prompting her to pull out a dagger Kirito gave her and nearly slice into the woman she had met earlier. It was the player Hinterhalt.

"Shhh! I know a way out of here, just follow me." The woman ushered Sinon along, not paying mind to the fact Sinon almost stabbed her.

Overwhelmed with fear and relief, Sinon felt a few tears streaming from her face as she gave one last look towards the campfires near all of the bloodshed. She reluctantly followed the woman away from the carnage.

"Look out!" Hinterhalt yelled, as Sinon was impaled yet again with a paralyzing dart, and falling over.

A pack of four players emerged from the shadows, one chucking.

"Nice shot. This one probably thought they'd get away."

"Run! They'll kill you!" Sinon yelled to the woman, looking towards the approaching men.

"To be honest, fuck XaXa. I'm going to take this one." He pulled out his blade, approaching Sinon.

She struggled, trying to get out of the way and run, but it was no use. He was standing above her and didn't hesitate at all when it came to bringing his blade down. Oddly enough, she felt no pain, but it didn't matter. Sinon's health immediately plunged from full to yellow. He raised his hand for another swing, but immediately jumped back before killing her. His eyes were distracted by an approaching figure.

Sinon screamed, trying to flail her body in resistance realizing that she was on the verge of death. She stopped once she noticed the expression on her captor's faces. They were nervous.

Kirito approached, a single blade in his hand. His eyes were locked onto the one who had stabbed Sinon, until he felt his foot get grabbed from below. It was some green player, a woman.

"Please, help me up…" Hinterhalt begged, fearfully looking towards the four men.

Kirito looked down at the woman.

"I remember you." He took her arm, revealing a strange tattoo on her wrist, that of the PK'ing guild Laughing Coffin. She was a player that would bait real green players into dangerous situations.

Before the four other Laughing Coffin guild members could charge Kirito, they stopped in their tracks. Kirito had sunk his blade through the woman's chest, killing her instantly.

"Fuck… Kill this bastard!"

Sinon watched in horror and disbelief as Kirito calmly placed himself between her and the men. He now had a red symbol above him, branding him as a player killer.

Kirito was ruthless. He raised his hand toward the one who stabbed Sinon, and used an elemental magnetic skill once more, pulling him off his feet, and flying towards him. Before the Laughing Coffin guild member flew into Kirito, he thrust his sword forward, impaling the player on his blade. After his health reached zero, Kirito tossed his body to the side and it exploded into materialization.

He pressed forward. Two more charged him, one with a blade like his, the other armed with a pair of daggers. The swordsman was decently skilled, parrying a few of Kirito's strikes, but was on the backfoot. Kirito kept pressing him, making him block over and over again, until Kirito pulled out a second sword during his onslaught, and thrust it directly into his eye, followed by a thrust across his abdomen after he flinched from the first hit.

"Kirito look out!" Sinon screamed.

The third LC member stabbed Kirito, hardly leaving any damage, Kirito grabbed him by the neck, and made eye contact with the fourth LC member as he squeezed the life out of his guildmate.

"B-But… Why would you… you became a red player." He stammered in disbelief, watching his friends fall before him.

"…Who fucking cares." The main in Kirito's arm exploded into blue hexagons, and he made his way towards him.

A flood of notifications and messages flooded into Kirito's menu, awarding him with new perks and stats for participating in the harrowing event. A new item, the Elucidator was unlocked, as well as skills called Infrared Gaze, and Windborne speed. Infrared gaze upon activation would allow him to see infrared energy, and effectively see in the dark. Windborne speed would provide AGI and SPD bonuses for every consecutive monster or person defeated while in combat. Bonuses removed once the player breaks combat.

The final LC member was now flanked by a dozen or so of his guildies, as they arrived to help upon hearing the commotion.

Kirito equipped his new weapon and activated both of his new abilities. His eyes felt a strange coolant sensation, as if they had miniature fans blowing on them from the inside. More importantly, he could see. Everything.

Sinon's view of Kirito was poor, but she could tell it was him. His black cloak was lit up by the moonlight, and she got a quick glance at his eyes. There was a strange tint of red that gave her the chills, and what came afterward was even more disturbing. LC members rushed Kirito, he was cutting down person after person, each with their own unique identity in the real world. Sinon squeezed her eyes shut as men and women yelled, even though they were red players, were slaughtered by her childhood friend. She heard a few begging for their life before their voices abruptly stopped, until after a few minutes it all ceased.

She was scared to open her eyes. She didn't want to know what had happened, and if Kirito was still there. Mustering the courage to look, she peeked an eye open, seeing a sea of red lettered messages reading _'DEAD'_ , with Kirito standing in the middle of them. He looked at her.

She gasped, crawling backwards away from him. Her paralysis likely was gone due to the caster being killed. Now with full control of her body, she stood up and staggered back away from Kirito, who was approaching her. Her back collided with a tree, startling her. She gulped and waited for him to reach her.

"K-K-Kirito-Senpai…?" She asked, unsure if it was still him.

Reaching her, he reached a hand out towards her, causing her to close one of her eyes and carefully look at him. She never stopped shaking.

Her shoulders slumped and relaxed, once she saw the complete and utter anguish in his eyes as he pets her head like he always would. They sat in silence for a few moments, with him still comforting her.

Kirito was unable to speak and felt like crying. He looked back at what he did; keeling over onto the floor and began vomiting profusely, disgusted with himself. The text of each person being dead sat before him like a graveyard. He buried his face in his hands and punched the floor.

"Fuck!"

A few horns and sirens blew in the distance, as the Anti-Player killing guilds had arrived to detain any and all red players. Asuna and Aaron were potentially in that group.

"K-Kirito-" Shino reached forward to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

A few green players appeared through the trees and pointed at Kirito. They ran towards him with torches.

Before they could exchange any more words, Kazuto dropped his teleport crystal for Sinon to take, and sprinted into the forest to avoid being caught by the green players.

"…Ma'am, are you alright?" One of the armored men asked, looking at the copious amount of dead players near them.

"Shino!" Asuna sprung into view, carrying her own torch in the night. When she saw the look on Shino's face, she dropped her torch into the grass and hugged her. 

A pair of red eyes rested on the two girls from a distance and followed Kirito as he ran through the forest. The user deactivated his eye skill.

"He's going to be a fun one to kill." Xaxa remarked. "Come, brother. The boss is going to be pissed."

Shinkawa bowed his head; following behind the cloaked man.

To be Continued.


	8. Trust

_Six Years Ago_

Two women were speaking in hushed voices inside of the operating room, just quiet enough for a young Asada to not be able to hear. The girl sat cross armed on a chair just outside, filled with anxiety and worry for her friend. The hospital walls were a ghostly white, and the entire building smelled like cleaning supplies, in kind of way that makes you sick to your stomach. Various people walked past Asada, while she started at every one hoping one will tell her what's going on. Eventually a nurse entered the room she was waiting outside of.

Asada got a quick glimpse of her mother, along with Kazuto's mother, and quickly jumped from her chair to also enter.

Shino's mother quickly caught her and kneeled to her.

"Honey, you don't want to see this. Please… Just wait there and be a good girl, okay?"

"But I want to see Kirito!" She stamped, her face flush with anxiety.

"Mr. Kazuto will be just fine… I just need you to wait there, okay?"

"I'm not a kid! I can see!" Shino begged.

One of the doctors looked at her and was gently brushed to the side by Kazuto's mother.

"I'll talk to her."

Shino watched as she shut the door and frowned as she was led back to the chair.

"Kirigaya-sama-"

A hand reached out and pet her head, just like Kazuto did to her. It's likely where he got it from.

"He needs to rest before his operation, little Shino. Did you already talk to the officer about what happened?"

"Y-Yes." Shino nodded, tearing up again.

"Okay, good. You'll have to talk to more nice officers soon, so I need you to be strong for Kazuto, okay? I heard he kept you safe."

She sniffled, wiping her eyes beneath her glasses.

"Mhm." She uttered.

"Good. Now it's your turn to help Kazuto, make sure you tell them everything that happened okay?" His mother continued to comfort her, never pausing the slow pets along her head.

Shino looked at the door one last time, before the dream and memory faded to black.

…

"Sinon! Sinon!"

The black-haired girl came to and looked around her. She was in some dimly lit chamber, and saw Asuna at the edge of her bed.

"Huh?"

"Are you okay? You just collapsed on me back there."

As Shino began to ask what she was talking about, her memories of the events that had just occurred entered her mind. Of all the things she remembered, nothing topped that look in her senpai's eyes when he was angry. She wasn't sure how it made her feel.

"Ugh… My head… What happened?" Shino asked, rubbing the side of her head.

"You tell me. We found you in one of the PK'er execution camps."

"Where's Kirito?!" She sat up with a start, looking around feverishly.

"I don't know, I haven't been able to contact him, I think he removed me from his friends list for some reason, or he's…"

"No, he was with me… He protected me. He's not dead." Sinon opened her menu and searched her friends list. Both Shinkawa and Kirito were missing. _Both of them?_

Asuna looked troubled and gave Shino a sad shake of her head.

"I was with Shinkawa-kun, until…" She paused. "We were escorting some lady until we were ambushed, but I think she was misleading us."

"It sounds like you got Lured."

"When I recovered, there were dozens of us tied up and paralyzed, and they began to kill off other players once the event started. After a while, I snuck off and got lured again by the same woman."

Asuna sighed, and stood up from the bed.

"I can't believe people took this event so seriously. To think people would go through with killing others, just for some lame buff…"

"But, Kirito showed up and…" Shino bit her lip, squeezing the blanket in her hands. "He killed so many of them."

"H-He killed them…?"

Asuna had known that Kirito would do things to protect his own, but she couldn't help thinking of the conversation she had had with him regarding protecting Shino. She didn't think he was lying, but to think he'd go as far as to _kill_ for her.

"Asuna-san… I have to go find him." Sinon pulled out her bow and set out to leave.

"But his name isn't on the list…"

"He's alive, I'm going to find him no matter what."

"Sinon- "

Shino shot Asuna a determined glare that mirrored Kirito's and prompted her to back down.

Her adventure into the night would take her to the 8th floor, hoping to find him at his home, despite the floor being unguarded.

…

The harrowing event had been plaguing Aincrad over the course of the first day, and the culture had already changed drastically. The first five floors were filled to the brim with hordes of green player patrols and lookouts, whilst also detaining and holding red players hostage until the event ended. Some green players had apparently already elected nominated green players to become red players through the form of execution, but it was just a rumor. Anything beyond the 5th floor was the "no go zone" until the event concluded. There weren't enough patrols to cover that much ground, and anyone who wanted to stay safe wouldn't mind staying on the lower floors.

Kirito was panting gently, exhausted after tackling the 17th floor boss alone. The red diamond glared above his head, permanently branding him for what he had done to protect his friend. He had no one to talk to, thanks to the game's systems. When a player became red, they would automatically be forced to remove all their green friends on their list unless they had the "Friends with Benefits" perk. It could only be acquired through further PK'ing, by luck. The only people he could add were other red players. The game did it to add incentive to unlock the perk.

Alongside the various stat-bonuses he acquired during his onslaught, he acquired a new coat called the metamaterial camouflage cloak, that let him occasionally enter invisibility. While most likely intended for use to stalk prey, Kirito planned on using it to keep an eye on his friends.

Entering the cool fall air, he felt a wave of relief wash over him knowing he was completely alone on the new floor. It was bittersweet, because no matter how long he felt the calm relaxation of isolation, the creeping feeling of loneliness squeezed his heart before the thoughts completely faded. It's almost as if the pain of being alone was always the last thought out the door.

The Long Night, as many called it, was still ongoing. The moon rested up in the sky and would remain for another five days. He wondered how many other players were put in his position. How many people were red players, murderers, to protect someone they cared for?

Was that why he did it?

Did he kill them for fun?

No matter how much he tried to justify his actions, he couldn't deny the adrenaline rush he felt, and almost yearned for after that fight.

He laid back, staring at the various stars in the sky, surrounding the enormous pillar that led to the following floor. Amidst his thought, he reluctantly took his teleport crystal and ported home, forgetting to activate the 17th floor teleporter, nor caring.

He warped in front of his home and began hearing the pounding of water spawned from the waterfall near his home. He looked out into the night, seeing a few of the city lights in the distance, wondering if any real players had taken the risk of staying on this floor.

A chill rose up his spine when he noticed footprints in the snow, leading into his house. It had been opened recently. It could potentially be more of the PK'ers that he had faced off before. He activated his cloaking device and snuck inside. All the lights were out, but he could detect the presence of another. Upon looking down the hallway, he noticed his bedroom was open. While trying to remain silent, his sneak skill was put to good use, allowing him to make absolutely zero sound.

As he slowly peeked around the corner, his guard dropped when he saw Sinon fast asleep on his bed, with her menu still open. He deactivated his metamaterial cloak, and set his gear down, waking her up. He motioned to leave, not particularly wanting to talk to her. She was probably terrified of him at this point due to being a player killer.

"Kirito-Senpai!" Sinon sprang out of the bed, her menu still awkwardly displaying in front of her as she moved. She closed it after realizing her mistake.

"Hey." Kirito responded with relatively no emotion, calmly emptying out his looting bag into his cabinet, sorting the potions away from the extra weapons. He noticed her pause at the corner of his eye, probably too afraid to get close to him.

"Yesterday, I was so afraid, you know. I think I was more afraid than I was all those years ago. I just laid there, worrying and shivering."

He looked at her, letting her continue.

"I think I would rather be dead, than be that weak." Her eyes found the floor.

"You were captured, and nearly executed. Of course, you'd be terrified."

"I hate it. I'm sick of being weak." She bit her lip, feeling her voice get shaky. "I think… I think I have to go on my own. I can't always let you save me, Kirito-Senpai."

"…You can travel on your own if you'd like, but you should wait until the harrowing ends-"

"No. I don't just mean that. I need to go face my fears out there, I'd rather die proud of myself than live on as a weakling."

Kirito's traditional conversational voice vanished, and it became more forward, almost aggressive.

"That's not how this works. You don't get to throw your life away, it's not just yours."

"It's my life, and I'm sick of always needing your help! I'm appreciative, I really am, but I need to do this!" She took a few steps towards him, him as well.

"I don't care, if you die, a part of me dies. I won't allow it. That's final."

They sat glaring at each other, as she tried to remain strong. Moment after moment she began to crack, starting to cry.

"Then." She sniffed. "Then protect me for the rest of my life!"

She began sobbing, whilst also in a rage and pushed him into a wall. He remained calm, listening to her.

"You don't know anything at all Kazuto, we both were there that day, yet you're the only one strong enough to handle it! Just because you're not a failure like me doesn't give you the right to live my life for me. No one even bullied you for what you did, even though we both shot someone that day. You never showed any weakness, and left me all alone to be the freak!"

She wept into his chest, as she let her unload all of her feelings.

She continued: "How can you say those types of things, if you aren't even willing to always be there for me!-"

"Alright." His word cut through her sobs and shrieks, prompting her to stop.

She looked up at him, black strands of her hair were in a mess all over her face, as well as red swollen skin around her dark eyes from crying.

"What does that mean?" She asked with a frown, lips still trembling.

"I'll protect you for the rest of my life." He calmly looked down at her, kissing her forehead. Her entire body began tingling, and her toes curled inward.

"Y-You-"

"Hush. You also misunderstand me. You're not the only one who is struggling." He continued.

"B-But-"

"Sinon, enough." He commanded, prompting her to clear her throat and listen. "I hide my pain, and run away from it. The only reason you think I'm strong is because I appear unchanged by what happened to us. There isn't a day that goes by where it doesn't haunt me. But, I have you to thank for when I have moments of courage. When those burglars took you away from me that day, I _lost_ it. You gave me strength."

Kirito looked away from her, attempting to hide his raw emotion even now. He didn't know why, but he never wanted her to see him cry.

"Senpai…?" She looked up at him.

"Yesterday I." He paused, his mouth unable to pronounce words. He knew what he wanted to say, but his mouth would just contort and twist, coupled with his lower lip beginning to tremble. Before he could utter another word, his breathing became hoarse and labored. Kirito was using his entire willpower not to breakdown, and felt all of the restraints begin to give, one at a time, until he burst sobbing,

Sinon tried to hold him, but he was reluctant to receive any comfort. He covered his eyes, and gently pushed her away from him as he made his way back to the living room.

"Kirito!" She chased him, grabbing onto him.

"You've got to understand, I just acted, I had to kill them. Please, Sinon, I swear on my life!"

The panic attack he was experiencing was overwhelming him, being confronted head on with the atrocities he committed. The faces of all those he cut down were appearing in his head, one after the other. The final image he had of each as he cut them down, the way the weight on his sword shifted and he let bodies slide off of it after impaling his prey. The final victim in his hallucination appeared, with a blood covered face as it began to choke him, until something made the choking feeling stop. His vision cleared, and his breathing began to slow down. His normal view returned slowly, to see his friend sitting in front of him giving him a concerned stare.

Ashamed of his melt down, be hid his face in his palm, and looked down. "I'm sorry, I just.-"

"It's okay, Kirito-Senpai." Unsure how he got on the couch, she leaned forward and hugged him. "I'm also sorry, for not respecting that you have troubles too. I was being stupid." She muffled into his chest.

He let out a tired sigh, and felt his eyes grow heavy.

Out of character, he felt himself instinctively hug her in a desperate manner.

"Don't go." Too tired to pick and choose his words, the simplicity of his word choice just escaped his lips.

A strange shiver charged Sinon's body upon hearing those words, as she pulled from the embrace and looked at him.

"I won't, I'm sorry."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, with wind occasionally blowing hard against the door and windows making a loud whirling noise.

"I hope what I did yesterday doesn't make you afraid of me." His mind lingered on the traumatic experience, but not as bad as it was a few moments earlier. He was concerned if people would think he's a monster.

"You're my hero, Kirito."

His heart skipped a beat, and he felt a strong grasp around it. His lips parted instinctively upon hearing those words.

"R-Really?" He pulled her out from his chest and looked at her right in the eyes.

She nervously pushed up her own glasses and blushed. Her smile reminded him from when they were younger.

"Mhm!" She responded confidently and shyly let her eyes wander back to his after fleeing, over and over.

"I see." He got the spontaneous urge to grab her, hold her down, and kiss her with how good she made him feel, but resisted. He felt guilty that he was three years her senior. It was also the girl that had the utmost trust in him.

He stood up, stretching, and wiped his eyes one more time, setting his glasses on the table next to them.

"Hey, Kirito."

"Hm?"

"What did you mean when you said a part of you would die, when I died?"

"What do you think?"

She blushed, beginning to pause and stammer her vocabulary.

"Well… I was hoping that you… I've always wanted to… Y'know…" Her eyes were hiding from his, as he studied her.

Kirito walked back over and sat dangerously close to her, getting in her personal space.

"Look at me."

She obeyed.

He brushed the hair from her eyes, so he could see, getting a subtle touch of her cheek. Her lips parted, but she maintained eye contact. Everything in her body was urging her to jump on him, but she abstained, careful of what his next move was.

"C-Can you kiss my forehead again?" She shyly requested, closing her eyes.

Leaning forward, he ignored her request and let his lips graze against hers, feeling her gasp instantly and melt into him. Her arms locked around him in a loving embrace and pulled him closer. Her lips chased his, desperately eager for another taste. He teased her slightly, pulling away from her advances, which forced a meek whimper from her lips.

He pushed her down onto her back, pinning her wrists onto the couch, hard enough to be in control. He let his lips graze against her and felt another lurch forward from her eager to share a kiss, and he denied her yet again. Nudging her head to the side, his lips found the soft flesh of her neck and immediately began sucking and kissing it. She mewled loudly next to him, but he was ruthless. He held her down while ravaging her neck and refused to stop until he was satisfied.

"Please… Kiss me…" She moaned, rubbing her hands through his hair.

The room was almost pitch black due to the permanent status of night outside, hiding all of Sinon's embarrassing facial expressions. As he attacked her neck, she was sure she was making all sorts of weird faces, and was glad he wasn't able to see them. Her inability to move her arms excited her, as she felt like she was being used by the guy she had always strived to get the attention of.

After having enough of her neck, he finally moved to her mouth, and began a one-sided war between their tongues. Her body and mouth surrendered to him completely, willingly let him taste every inch of her that he wanted. His face being so close to her was causing all sorts of shy moans and mewls to escape her mouth, which would only turn him on further.

Without thinking, he forced her hand onto the budge of his pants. Sinon began panting loudly, feeling her heart beginning to seemingly pump through her chest as her desires grew and grew. She had fantasized about pleasing him before and felt the urge to impress him. Before she could try, he paced himself and broke their embrace briefly. The two sat there breathing hard, looking into each other's eyes.

Kirito paced himself and slowed down. He gently pulled her head in an embrace, kissing her forehead. He pulled her into a hug, to which she accepted, as he began petting her while they cuddled.

"I love when you pet me." She whispered.

Kirito's tendency to pet and comfort her had always had an underlined meaning of ownership to it, and it was relieving to finally be able to embrace it.

"Sorry for being so aggressive with you." He chuckled.

"It's fine!" She giggled, ecstatic that not only her worries about Asuna were going away, but also that the man she trusted was interested in her.

Kirito felt his eyes grow heavy once more, as he began to doze off.

"I'm going to sleep, you're coming too."

Exhausted, he plucked the glasses off her head, and set them next to his. He stood up, lifting her with ease, and carried her to his bedroom. Despite how it seemed, he was too tired to continue their sexual behaviors. He climbed in bed and noticed that she was shyly eager. Too lazy to instruct her, he simply got comfortable, and forced her close, to which she willingly cuddled on his side, joining him in slumber.

The final thoughts in his mind were how he wished to know what it felt like, in the real world.

He would find out some day. He would make sure of it.


	9. Three Days

The Town of Beginnings rumbled, as another battle between magic users began on the outskirts of the town, likely a PK squad being cornered by the greens.

The town had sustained serious damage, but most green players were able to detain and secure the red players that had been lurking for kills. It wasn't an ongoing battle, but a few skirmishes would start up occasionally.

"Asuna, status on the eastern wing?" Aaron barked.

"Mostly clear, ran into a few scouts, but nothing major."

A relieved sigh escaped Aaron's mouth. Asuna's patrols had done relatively well so far into the event. "Send a few guys towards that commotion, let me know what's going on." He ordered.

She nodded, opening her menu and directing a few people from her party over.

Aaron walked towards the town square, swiftly sending mails out to each of the squad leaders, directing them to focus their attention towards the southern front. While in his list, he noticed Kirito's name gone from his friends list, and looked towards the sky full of anxiety.

' _I swear to god, if you die, I'll kick your ass.'_

The town smith, Agil, ran up, out of breath. _"_ Aaron, you'll want to see this!"

Aaron had never experienced Agil looking so distraught, the man looked exhausted as well. "Very well, lead the way." Agil had been a vital asset to the defense, providing his services of making weapons and repairing armor for free. It was usually expected for people to both pay crafters, as well as provide their own materials.

Running through the lamp lit streets would have normally been a weekend paradise, but the past few days had been filled with nothing but panic and combat. The non-playable characters continued to mind their own business, despite witnessing murders.

"Couple of our guys got put into yellow health, but they're fine. There's this one who keeps going invisible and trying to assassinate people. Fucker's got these annoying red eyes too." Agil stowed his hammer, squinting his eyes down the street. "Up there."

A few friendly players came into view, some were low on health, being replenished by people who had potions or healing skills. Makeshift barricades lined the streets, some seared with evidence of fire spells burning their surfaces.

The enormous town exit gate was close, likely why so many red players were being seen. They'd likely pick off the poor bastards trying to leave town.

"What is it you wanted me to see, Agil."

"Was about a dozen of the bastards just outside of town before I came and grabbed you. …Also, one of them spoke and requested you specifically."

Aaron looked at him in disbelief.

"The reds want me? Why." He furrowed his brows in disbelief and looked back towards the outside. Beyond the first few trees, the rest of the path and forest was completely dark.

"Hell if I know, said he wanted to talk. Figured if it'd save a few lives I'd bring you." Agil was helping some of the other players get geared whilst speaking.

"Alright. Keep an eye on me then." Aaron walked towards the town exit, causing everyone to look at him and gasp.

'He's going out there?' 'What the fuck is Aaron doing.' Several whispers murmured, in anticipation for something to happen.

The lamp lights emitting from the town only extended a few feet outside of the gate, which was where Aaron stopped walking. He stared out into the darkness, impatient.

He stood there, looking back toward Agil with an annoyed glance. He noticed the amount of players watching him.

"I've got work to do, Agil. If you're fuckin' with me I've got to go back." Aaron yelled, looking back towards his friend.

"I won't keep you." XaXa appeared behind Aaron, deactivating his metamaterial camouflage. His blistering red eyes glowed behind his mask, bearing down on Aaron's back.

Without flinching, Aaron sighed, annoyed at the delay. "Good, I got shit to do. What do you want?"

The Laughing Coffin Officer growled, annoyed at his inability to taunt the player. Figures, as he was one of the ones close to the black swordsman.

"Do you know where the demon is?" Xaxa asked.

"The fuck are you on about? What?" Aaron turned towards the cloaked figure. "Also, you look like a muppet in that coat."

"The black swordsman as some call him, he is known as the demon within my ranks." He ignored Aaron's jabs.

"Kirito? He's not here. And if he was, you'd have to get on your knees and start workin' if you wanted me to tell you." Aaron twirled one of his daggers, growing further impatient. "Anything else?"

Before Agil could warn Aaron, XaXa brandished his blade and motioned it towards his throat. Before he could, Aaron too, had his daggers at XaXa's chest and neck.

"Not bad." XaXa remarked.

"Don't fuck with me, idiot." Aaron boldly shoved him back, not caring what the result was.

"You have three days. Bring the Demon here when the in game clock reaches 12:00. Failure to do so will result in a full-scale annihilation."

Aaron approached XaXa, only to see him slowly vanish within the air itself, gone. His tensed shoulders finally relaxed, as he felt a slight twinkle within himself.

' _That means Kirito is alive.'_

…

The black swordsman opened his eyes, feeling an immediate numbness in his left arm as if it didn't function anymore. Despite the sensation, he relaxed realizing it was caused due to Sinon taking his arm hostage in her slumber, having rested her head on the joint for the past 7 hours. He couldn't move his left leg either, as it was caught in a vice by the sleeping girl who had wrapped herself around him.

He was exhausted the night before but started recalling the events. He had _kissed_ his best friend. He did more than just kiss her, he practically threw himself on her and it was strange to process.

Amidst his thought, her head continued to methodically and slowly rise and fall due to his breathing, she seemed to still be fast asleep. It was calm, but overwhelming. The realization that he would now share an intimate relationship with the girl he had always sought to protect was new territory for him, but strangely felt correct.

Kirito tried to slowly separate from her grasp but failed utterly as the unconscious Sinon instinctively tightened her hold on him.

He sighed, in a delighted way and brushed the hair from her eyes, shamelessly watching her sleep for a few moments. His mind wrestled with the notion that he was being creepy but shrugged it off knowing no one would know.

Luckily, her eyes fluttered open, he would get his arm back soon. She gave him a tired stare, followed by a subtle smile. Asada let out a yawn, which morphed into a far more tremendously noisy sound while she stretched. It was a rather funny sound, something she'd probably only do in front of him.

"Morning Sinon."

After her rather extra yawn, she crawled up his chest rather slowly, with a few early morning grunts as she worked towards his face. A soft inaudible sound escaped her lips as she got closer, prompting him to act. With one of his hands, he cupped her cheek and held her hip while moving in for a slow kiss. This one lacked the lust of the previous night, giving them both butterflies in their stomach.

Kirito allowed his eyes to close, as he tenderly overpowered her tongue slightly when they met but being less aggressive than their last duel. While holding her hip, he could feel her entire body tensing up, shaking slightly with subtle jolts whenever he advanced on her. Exploring her bodies reactions fascinated him, noticing the reactions to something small like the slightest of lip nibbling.

She pulled away from him, causing him to reopen his eyes. Somehow during their kissing his hand had found a secure hold of her behind, genuinely confusing him how it had got there.

"I…" Sinon choked up, revealing to Kirito that she was crying slightly.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

His heart raced faster, worried that his little paradise had already come toppling down. Non-realistic fears and irrational thinking began to increase his heart rate immensely until she eased him.

"I've just." She sniffled, laughing at herself, wiping her sleeve on her eyes. "I've just wanted this for so long." She laughed again, shaking her head. "I'm such a dumby, why am I crying."

Relieved, Kirito exhaled. "What, being close like this?"

She nodded, shyly.

"It might be weird, but I've always liked you." She laughed again. "I remember when I was a little girl, I'd always annoy my mother asking her when she'd let me marry you."

"Oh? That's kind of funny, I think my mom told me about that."

He wiped the few tears from her face, causing her to blush slightly.

"Thanks."

"Mhm. Hopefully we can still be friends still, you know?"

She cocked her head sideways.

"What do you mean?"

"I just don't want to lose you as a friend if we get closer, you know?"

She kissed the hand he was petting her face with, reassuring him.

"We'll always be friends, Kirito-Senpai."

She felt a sensation against her leg, surprising her. Her smoky eyes found his, followed by a heavy tension within the air. She knew.

"Reckon I'll get up, should work on my tinkering a bit. Got a pretty cool project I'm working on." He nervously tried to sit up, clearing his throat.

A hand was placed on his chest, easing him back down on the pillow.

"No, just lie there for a moment." A soft grin creeped onto Shino's face as she rubbed her leg against his crotch, feeling it grow. "Pervert." She teased.

He sighed nervously, usually getting the jitters when sexually aroused with a new partner, but this was even worse. It was still quite difficult to differentiate his friend from the usual girls he messed around with. Although different, something deep within him wanted it even more than usual.

Her hands. Her tiny little hands massaged his chest, slowly pulling his shirt over his head, allowing her to continually run her hands all over him. He was skinny, but not without some decent muscle tone. Her eyes continually looked back up towards his, and instantly went back down due to her shyness.

The scars from his wounds at the post office were visible, as large off colored streaks from the operation that occurred to save his life. Sinon lowered her head and kissed the skin, making his heart skip several beats as he got over the anxiety in that moment. He trusted her completely.

"Thank you." She whispered, after kissing his scar. It was a burden he would forever bear due to saving her life, by risking his own.

Kirito had let his head drift backwards, instinctively letting one of his arms rest on his forehead, while his other hand continued to play with her hair. He felt her begin to lower his pants, triggering him to close his eyes. From his toes, shins, hips, chest, all the way up to his face, he felt his body go lax, fully diving into the moment and preparing for what was to come.

Shino's cheeks were burning a slight pink, as she was living a moment she had fantasized dozens and dozens of times before, and was desperate not to mess it up. Her eyes tried not to remain on the obvious erection that poked up from his undergarments, to which she failed.

"Fuck…" He groaned, unaware that he did so. His growls caused Sinon's own lust to stir and give her confidence.

She exposed him, revealing his generously sized length. It wasn't over the top, but also slightly above average. Despite the many pornographies she had watched in her bedroom, nothing had prepared her for what she was feeling in that moment.

Sinon noticed Kirito's breathing begin to slow, as well as his muscles tensing up. She too, felt a hot rush in the back of her skull that was a mix between excitement and anxiety.

Her relatively small hand slowly coiled around him, forcing a deep rumble from his chest, forcing Sinon's own sex to begin producing its juices. Reciprocating to his elation, she began slowly massaging his cock while giving him a modest smile, dare he look at her face.

Kirito's erection grew in her hands, combined with him feeling how wet she was getting due to her straddling his left leg while jerking him.

Sinon was now in a sexual trance, fueled by both love and servitude. Her hand was moving in a mechanical manner, while her lovestruck face kept her eyes on him, growing increasingly more attached to his subtle moans and groans to her technique.

"Kirito-Senpai…" She teased, lowering her face closer to his mass. She felt a _strong_ reaction to her words, resulting in her giving him a careful look. "I… I felt that, Kirito-Senpai."

It throbbed again.

"Felt what?" He remarked, between slow cautious breaths. It was taking a lot of energy not to manhandle her.

Her blush worsened, but she couldn't resist with how sexy she felt. Rather than respond, she acted.

Catching him off guard, her tongue, which had been bullied by his during their kissing sessions, slowly massaged the underside of his erection. His hand instinctively grabbed ahold of her hair, and then pulled back after he had felt the urge to start ramming her head down. He did his best to control himself.

"You get turned on when I call you Senpai, don't you." She giggled.

Sinon never stopped licking his shaft, watching him try to formulate sentences while she pleased him. It was rather cute.

"Well it's… Fuck… I just like the idea of…" His brain turned to mush, due to the unfair circumstances. After nearly a minute of enduring the gentle swirling of her tongue around the head of his mass, he continued. "I want you to serve me." He finally uttered between moans.

"Good." Were the final words she spoke. Her mouth slowly trapped the head of his penis, engulfing it entirely. A nearly inaudible mewl escaped her lips as it submerged.

"Holy fuck…" His thoughts returned to a haze. It wasn't his first blowjob, but it was already something far greater than he had experienced with Asuna. Aside from the obvious emotional ties he shared with Shino, it was undeniable how utterly _soft_ her mouth was. It was more intense than any type of intercourse he had thus far.

Kirito felt his hips instinctively pull away, due to the sheer amount of sensitivity caused by the glands of his member. It was almost a mix between the most pleasure he had ever felt, combined with an extreme tickle. Despite the almost torturous euphoria, Sinon was determined.

Sinon bobbed her head up and down, not applying any suction whatsoever. She merely let his cock slide along her tongue, while her lips gently grazed him. A few subtle whimpers escaped her mouth during her work, making his mass twitch within her mouth.

"Please… Don't stop for any reason." He begged, covering his eyes now as he winced hard.

A bitter substance began to leak along the bed of her tongue, as she continued to allow it to slide between the depths of her mouth. Sinon's available hand snuck its way between her own thighs, as she began to play with herself. The arousing sensation of finally being able to please _her_ Kirito was overwhelming.

While she bobbed up and down, his hand had found her head and kept her pumping incase she would grow tired. He liked the control. Her sudden boldness impressed him, but that wouldn't stop him from dominating her.

In an instant, his toes curled hard, and his entire body began to shake in anticipation. His teeth were grit, and eyes squeezed shut. Without warning her, a torrent of his essence erupted from him, directly into her mouth. He felt her stop due to the surprise, and immediately began ramming her head up and down as he climaxed.

The bitter taste in her mouth intensified, as his hands were in an iron lock around her head, forcing her to swallow his load. She began panting and moaning loudly, accidentally letting a few drops leak from her mouth.

Her own climax came to fruition as he dominated her, holding her head down until he was completely spent. A loud, final roar escaped his mouth as both of his hands were still holding her head down, until they finally relaxed slightly, allowing her to retreat from his groin. His arms which had previously held her hostage, fell limp to his sides. His breath was now weak, likely not orgasming for more than a few days.

Sinon, also panting, began to feel the soreness in her jaw arise, as well as notice the mess she had made on Kirito's leg. She dared not make eye contact with him, feeling especially timid after he had used her. A few minutes of rest and relaxation were taken, as they both sat their regaining her breath.

"H-How was it?" She asked, regaining her confidence.

"Good." He weakly responded, sounding exhausted.

She giggled once more, cuddling up to him again, lying there for a few moments.

"Sorry that was so random."

He didn't respond.

She looked up at him, resting her chin on his chest, and noticed something adorable.

 _He was asleep._

She had literally knocked him out, at least for a little while.

Proud of herself, she nestled back down onto his chest, and replayed the scenario over and over in her head, wondering how it would go next time. She was slightly concerned that she didn't perform up to par and continued to run endless simulations until her attention was broken.

A few hard knocks could be heard in the other room, causing her to jump.

 _KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_

"Oi, Kaz. Get your ass out here." Aaron barked from outside, sounding annoyed.

Sinon sprang to her feet, dressing herself.

Kirito groaned, and slowly got up as well., mumbling some words she couldn't quite hear.

"Aaron's here! Shit I need a second." Sinon scrambled.

Kirito, still worn out, worked his trousers back on and lazily walked towards the door and opened it.

"Hm?" He asked, yawning.

"Sup hoe. Got to talk to you about something." Aaron walked past him, lying on his couch.

"Mk." Kirito sat down as well, across from him.

"First, why the fuck are you a red player? I thought you died because you weren't on my friends list."

Kazuto sighed. "It's a long story."


	10. A Sniper Rifle

The air between the two friends grew thick. Aaron and Kirito were in a standoff of a stare, prompted by Aaron's disgust in him.

"A laughing coffin member wants to meet you in three days. I had no fuckin' clue why, and I come here and find that you're a red player. What happened to you?"

Annoyed, Kirito rested his cheek on his fist and stared at him.

"It's not what you think."

"I dunno' man, you know how powerful you are, you shouldn't have had to kill anybody." Aaron stood up, both pissed and uncomfortable being near his friend. "Those LC guys are calling you a demon, is that who you killed?"

"Aye." Kirito's posture was unchanged. His eyes were lazy but were cold while watching his friend. He could not _stand_ people assuming he was some sort of murderer, he had been taunted with that notion his whole life, ever since the post office incident. "Sinon was in danger, and I neutralized threats."

Aaron's shoulders relaxed a bit, and he stopped tensing up so much. "I see. Do you really think there was no other way?" his eyes pleaded to Kirito, not wanting to lose his friend.

"I hate myself for doing it. But make no mistake, I would do it again."

"Hmm. Alright. The guy who wants to meet you is called XaXa, and he seems moderately dangerous. I just figured you should know."

"Lame username."

"Oh yeah?" Aaron sighed, shaking his head. "Well, in the next day or so I need you to come down to the town of beginnings, those LC guys threatened to do something huge if you don't come. Regarding the green players, I'll make sure they know you're friendly." Aaron paused. "You _are_ friendly, right?"

"I don't know Aaron, am I?" Kirito yawned, looking harmless.

Rolling his eyes, Aaron zipped up his coat and made his way back out into the snow. "Alright Kaz, please make it. For whatever reason I can't private message you, so have Sinon keep in contact with me regarding when you'll be there. Also communicate where you're coming from so you don't get jumped by the green militia."

"Mhm. Be careful." Kirito responded.

"I will, thanks. Can't wait for this event to be over so everyone can go back to worrying about the game."

With that, his friend went out into the snowy night, on route to his post in the Town of Beginnings. He felt relieved that his friend was both alive, and not a malicious murderer. Still, whatever the Laughing Coffin members wanted with him kept him uneasy.

Walking out of Kirito's bedroom, Sinon slid into his lap. "So, how many more days until this PvP event is over?"

"Four, I think. It's hard to keep track of time with it always being night time." He made room for her and held her hip while deep in thought.

"Kirito?" He looked at her. Her hair was all messed up from their long nap and sexual activities. It was kind of cute how she looked like she had just rolled out of bed.

"Hm?"

"What have you been working on with your tinkering thing? You've spent so many hours on it."

She noticed him avert his gaze, which was odd. Throughout her whole life he would always look directly in her eyes, but only things he was shy or nervous about would cause him to act in such a way.

He slightly moved her in his lap, so he had access to his arms and opened his menu after some repositioning. He showed her the grid of his Tinkering skill.

"I'm trying to build this." He opened the rifle at the bottom, showing the vast requirements of both level and materials.

"Is that… A sniper rifle?" Her eyes widened, trying to click it with her finger. It didn't work, as she childishly forgot it was his menu.

He did it for her, increasing the size of the weapon.

"Yeah, it is."

"Um… Kirito? It says in big red text that this weapon is unusable by you. Why make something you can't use?" She gave him a pouted and concerned glance but knew better than to doubt him.

"You're right. Since I invested to much of my character into sword mastery, I won't be able to equip it properly. I can use it, but I won't be good." He sighed, staring at the image of the weapon.

"So, why make it?" She looked away from his screen, and back to his face. She had a habit of doing that lately, constantly ogling his jaw line, or eyes.

"You're going to fire it for me." He poked her forehead. "After I saw what you could do with a bow in the beta, you'll be a goddess with this thing."

"M-Me?!" She looked back at the weapon, with a newfound curiosity.

"Mhm. This MMO has technological evolution within it. I'm assuming around the fiftieth or seventy-fifth floor we'll start seeing modern technology. Some of the structures within the late teen floors are already beginning to exhibit more sophisticated infrastructure."

"You're a nerd." She poked his face.

He closed his menu and diverted his attention to her.

"And you have a crush on a nerd, what does that make you?"

Her eyes hid, prompting him to immediately readjust her chin to look at him.

"Being a nerd isn't a bad thing." She blushed. She noticed that he was staring at her rather intensely while he brushed her cheek. She didn't mind, but it was going on for quite a long time. "You ok?" She asked, noticing him snap out of it.

"Hm? Yeah. I was just thinking." He took a few moments, still studying her face. "Since last night, I don't think I've ever wanted to get out of this game more than I do now. I want to touch the _real_ you."

Despite what he had said, it felt real to her. His strong hand that was running up and down her leg didn't feel like something the game had just produced out of thin air. It was as if there was a thin layer of electricity that made a pleasant spark on any flesh that he touched. Despite how good it felt, she did wonder how different it would be, to finally be close to her childhood crush and feel the real sensations.

"Can I tell you a secret?" She placed one of her hands on his, albeit much smaller.

"Go for it."

"Before we dove into the Nerve gear, I made a stupid plan." She giggled and blushed, continuing. "I held your hand after you were already inside, so you wouldn't notice. I also vowed to log out first, so you didn't catch me."

He smiled. "That's cute. It's good to know that we got to hold hands like that, at least for a little bit. I'm sure we've both been in a hospital for a while now."

Her expression was jovial, and then darkened slightly. "You're right. We're probably not even close to each other in the real world, both hooked up to some machines…"

He pondered but nodded slowly. "I'm sure there's a lot of people in that kind of state."

She looked down at their joined hands, feeling a pang of sadness. "It hurts knowing that we're not holding hands in reality anymore."

"This is real, isn't it?"

"Well, it is, but…"

"I mean, when you blew my brains out a half hour ago, that felt pretty real." He teased.

Her face went red as a tomato as she flung her face into his chest to hide.

"Don't be so direct! It's embarrassing." She laughed. Her face popped back up, as she pouted. "I did okay, right? I was super nervous to be honest."

"Hm… I don't know." He pretended to think long and hard about whether her performance was adequate, until he noticed genuine concern on her face.

"Oh no… I'm so sorry if it wasn't good. I'll try to do better, I promise. I was just super worked up, and wanted to be nice, so- "

"Chill. You did amazing." He rolled his eyes, petting her to make her mellow out.

"Oh, well, I'm glad." Sinon was still in slight disbelief that she and Kirito were finally together, let alone _pleasuring_ him. What was she thinking? "Sorry if it was sudden, and too fast… I just really like you, Kirito-Senpai."

Guilt creeped into his mind. He wasn't cheating on anyone, but he had his fair share of intimate experiences. Sinon had never been with another man, he was her first. He had wished he could say the same for her, but he just couldn't.

"I like you too, I think I always have." He responded, still thinking about his guilt.

"Was that… your first?" She looked up at him with wonderous eyes, almost eager.

He felt a stabbing pain in his heart, not wanting to lie to her, but also not wanting to disappoint her. He took a deep breath.

"No, it wasn't. But it was the best by far."

Still young, not mature enough to _not_ ask such questions, Sinon felt a bit of jealousy. It was hard to process that another woman, probably Asuna, had already given herself to him. She did her best to not show how much it bothered her.

"I see."

She was easy to read. He respected her restraint at trying to not appear offended, so he attempted to comfort her. He didn't mind clingy girls, in fact Sinon's clinginess made him want to spoil her and make her dreams come true.

His voice quieter, and more direct now. "Sinon." He met her wavering eyes, confronting her jealous side face to face.

"…?" She responded with a quiet stare, filled with low self-esteem. Her mind was racing wondering which, and how many girls he had been with before her and wondering how worthy she was.

"You're very special to me. Do you understand?"

Hesitantly, Shino nodded.

He looked up at his red cursor, indicating his status as a player killer. It would normally fill his heart with dread and guilt, but not now. It showed how far he went to fulfill his promise, and to defend what was _his._

Her eyes noticed his brief glance up at his branded red symbol, and felt her self-doubt begin to wash away. Sinon's eyes were now captured by his, fully understanding the weight of his assurance in her.

A warm reassuring shiver rippled down her spine, while her heart practically swallowed itself in delight hearing what he said next.

"You're mine."

He lovingly kissed her, breaking it off before it became too sexually charged.

Kirito's boldness and possessiveness practically married her emotions of self-consciousness, completely obliterating any worries she may have had. It was the perfect combination of faults working in harmony.

Sinon, in a loving stupor, began daydreaming of the various ways she could get thrown around and ravaged. Over the couch, on the floor, against a wall… Her fantasies were interrupted when he gently moved her and stood up, putting on his glasses and coat.

"W-Where are you going?" She asked, blinking a few extra times to get the perverted ideas out of her head.

"Just going to get some fresh air, you're welcome to join me if you'd like."

The view from the porch was spectacular, especially at night. The waterfall above his small home was still crashing into a nearby lake, which was as large for as far out as he could see. A small winding path descended onto the trail that would lead back to one of the smaller cities of the floor, leaving him completely secluded out here. Before the Long Night, he used to occasionally see players exploring down by the lake but hasn't seen anyone since it began.

The air nipped at his exposed skin, as he pulled his hat over his head. He wondered if the bitter chill of the wind was unique to the game, or if extremely cold climates like this really were this annoying to deal with. He hadn't really dealt with that much snow in his life time, due to where he lived.

He heard the door open and close behind him, as Sinon made her way next to him along the railing. They matched, as they usually did. Ever since Sinon started middle school, she began wearing mostly black in attempt to get attention from Kazuto but ended up sticking with it. Sinon's coat almost went down to her knees because she was borrowing one of his and looked rather silly.

"I overheard you and Aaron talking, who wanted to meet you?"

"Some guy named XaXa. Red player. Threatened to cause trouble if I don't meet him."

"X-XaXa?" Sinon stammered.

"Mhm." Kirito kept overlooking the lake, unphased.

"I remember that name! When I was captured, some of the pk'ers were talking about him as leader."

Kirito glared at her, almost scaring her. It was a similar gaze when he was fighting the LC members. "Did he hurt you?"

"N-No… I just remember his name." She took a step back towards him, feeling guilty that she was afraid of him briefly. She knew he would never hurt her and had to accept that that side of him meant business when it came to her safety.

His expression softened and returned to the wide expanse before them.

"Understood."

"Do you think… You'll meet him?" She hoped he would say no, and carefully looked over at him, stuffing her hands in her pockets for warmth.

"Of course."

She chewed her lip and looked toward the moon. Her appreciate for the view would be much better under different circumstances. Despite how much she hated annoying sunlight, she missed it, and it had only been a few days.

The next hour or so was filled with small idle chatter, but mostly just the pair enjoying each other's company and relaxing. It was good knowing they could be so passively wasting time, knowing that each moment would bring the event closer and closer to its conclusion. While Sinon was browsing the various in-game wikis on her menu, she noticed her, and Kazuto weren't friends in game anymore.

"Kirito, did you unfriend me?" Her tone was genuine curiosity, with no accusatory elements.

"No. Green players aren't allowed to be friends with reds. Only exceptions are if I get the 'Friends with Benefits' perk, Guilds, or marriage."

' _Did he say marriage?'_

"What's 'Friends with Benefits'? How do you get that perk?" She asked.

"Kill people." He replied, taking a drink of his coffee.

She rolled her eyes, both enjoying making light of his red player status to make it not as much of a big deal. "Okay, but what's it do?"

"It lets red players infiltrate greens and add them to their friends list. Normally we're not allowed."

' _God, what a nerd. So cute.'_

"Okay. It'll be hard to communicate, don't you think? If we're not close. I don't think we can private message each other if we're not friends in game." Sinon asked, slightly worried.

"Yeah, I'm aware. I'll have to make a private guild. Seems like the best way to stay in contact with our friends."

"Fuck." She whispered, out of character. In game marriage to her senpai sounded appealing.

"What was that?" Kirito looked over, taking another sip from his coffee.

"Oh, nothing."

Kirito opened his menu, looking at his newly acquired sword the other day.

 _The Elucidator_

He grinned. He strangely looked forward to his meeting with XaXa.


	11. Renegade

A young Asada Shino was on one of the swings at her local park, giggling and cheering for her friend to keep pushing her higher.

"Higher, Shinkawa, higher!"

The boy did his best, pushing his crush with all of his strength, watching her dangle in the air, just to whoosh down past him again. He liked making her happy.

The two had just gotten out of their fourth grade class and were enjoying their brief recess between lessons.

Shino, whilst at the peak on one of the swings caught on the corner of her eye a fresh wave of older kids beginning their break as well. It was the seventh graders. She dug her feet into the wood chips, doing her best to slow the momentum down of her swings, prompting Shinkawa to protest.

"D-Didn't you want to keep swinging, Asada-San?"

Finally able to stop the momentum, she smiled towards her friend. "I want to go say hi to Kazuto!"

She was off, leaving her friend in the dust, who frowned. He hadn't tried to branch out and make any other friends, leaving him abandoned whenever Shino would play with someone else. He slowly followed.

As she got closer to the groups of seventh graders emerging from the school, whom gave her annoyed glanced as they brushed passed her, she finally saw him. Kazuto was walking with Aaron, holding a ball for them to play four-square with. Two other sixth graders were with them.

"Kirito!" She yelped, causing Kazuto to cringe, and blush. His friends sniggered at him as the underclassman tackled him with a hug. "I got a good score on my spelling test!"

He looked around towards his classmates, rubbing his head anxiously. "That's great, Shino."

"Come play with me!"

His acquaintances laughed and walked off shaking their heads. They were quite the judgmental bunch.

"Shino, what did I tell you about annoying me at school?" He firmly pushed her off of him, making her glasses fall off of her face, hitting the pavement. They didn't break, but still scared her. One of the lenses popped out, something he could likely fix.

Her lip quivered, and eyes immediately began to water.

Kazuto no longer cared about the judgement of his peers and kneeled to pick up her glasses. The girl stood with a defensive posture, holding her hands in front of her chest while beginning to cry.

He sighed and looked at her glasses. Her mother would have his ass if they were broken. He took off his own glasses and put them on her head, looking a little awkwardly large for her. Nevertheless, he wiped the tears forming at her eyes.

Aaron waited impatiently, leaning against the brick.

"You're always crying." He teased, patting her head. Her expression brightened a little, looking up at him. "We can hang out after school ends, okay?"

She gave him a curious grey stare through his enormous glasses on her head. Luckily, she was still able to see pretty well despite them not being her glasses. "O-Okay." She sniffled.

"Sec, Aaron." He turned to his friend who shrugged. Looking back to Shino, he looked out towards the play field where most of the third and fourth graders were. "Head on back to your friends, yeah?"

The girl nodded and ran towards Shinkawa who had nearly caught up with them. While wiping her eyes, she accidentally ran _directly_ into a different sixth grader. She practically knocked him over despite her small size, likely catching him off balance.

"Ow! The HECK man?!" The boy grunted, glaring at the perpetrator. Shino, apologetic as ever, bowed her head in apology over and over.

"I-'m so sorry! I wasn't looking."

The girl dusted off her knees, looking carefully as the upperclassman rose to his feet, towering over her.

"I remember you… You're that freak in my sister's class. The one who killed people?" The blonde smirked, upon seeing the horror strike Asada's face.

"Yeah… That's her. Everyone's always giving her special attention." Endou, another second grader, coldly approached with her friends from the nearby slide. "Teach her a lesson, brother."

Shino was still frozen, fear struck when bullies harassed her about what happened to her and Kazuto. She couldn't comprehend why people had to use it against her all the time, it's nothing she was proud of doing… She just wished it would go away.

The upperclassman picked her up from her collar, making her yelp. Her feet dangled from the ground, prompting her to start kicking.

"Hey! Stop!

Shinkawa ran towards her but paused once Endou's older brother gave him a sinister look.

"Back off kid, or you're next." Endou crossed her arms, sneering at the hesitant Kyouji from behind her brother.

Shino tried to call out for help but couldn't make much noise as she was suspended in the air. She kicked weakly against the knees of her captor, hearing nothing but Endou's evil laughing next to her.

Shinkawa clenched his fists, only able to watch as his friend was being bullied. He wasn't sure if he should stand up for her or go get help from a teacher. It was tearing away at him, causing him to shake. All he could think about doing was suffocating the life out of Endou's brother… But, that wasn't a solution. He needed to do something _NOW._

Before Shinkawa could move a muscle, Kazuto pummeled into the boy his age, and began hammering away at him on the ground. The two rolled and punched each other, each landing their own independent blows.

Shino had scooted away from them in the grass, and began frantically looking for help.

"Kirito be careful!" She whined, seeing the other boy landing some solid hits onto Kazuto's face.

Endou screamed as her brother was getting beat up, until a few grown ups had sprinted over and broke the two up.

Shinkawa watched in disdain, feeling almost surreal in the moment as the grown ups pulled apart the two boys in almost seemingly slow motion. He didn't know why he couldn't do anything. It haunted him, how he couldn't ever muster the courage to be Asada's hero. He looked at her figure, sitting in the grass, and could see in her eyes how she looked at Kazuto.

The two were taken away, as well as Shino as being a witness to the fight. Shinkawa, once again, was stuck waiting, standing alone in the park while kids played all around, seemingly ignoring him. He was no one. Any time anyone looked at him, they never saw him, only themselves. It was like he was a mirror.

…

 _The Final Day of the Harrowing_

"Did you get Friends with Benefits?" Shouichi, otherwise known as XaXa, asked his brother.

The perk that allowed red players to disguise themselves as greens, and add them back to their friends list, was a particularly dangerous tool that had been Laughing Coffin's signature way of baiting in fresh kills during the long night. They only had another 24 hours to farm kills before the event was gone forever.

"Yes, brother. I have it. That last bitch you let me kill was the one who gave it to me. I just knew she would give me something special, you know?" Kyouji responded.

"Understood. Your role is very important for us. Give me your cloak." The older brother seized Kyouji's equipment, leaving him looking like a standard player again, except with his red diamond above his head. "Activate it."

Kyouji did so, seeing his player symbol morph back into that of a normal player.

"I'm sorry I let her get away last time, I really am-" Shinkawa stammered.

"Don't worry about it." XaXa interrupted. "PoH doesn't care about the girl, the bonuses we got from kills in the event were good enough."

"I see." Shinkawa looked down at his friends list, only having red players. He would have to get a whole assortment of green names for the guild and lure them into traps. He would also have to re-add his beloved Asada Shino.

"I'm going to go prepare for the upcoming meeting. Make your way into town, you know how to call for us if things get bad." XaXa stood, putting his mask on his face, and made his way out.

Making his way into the Town of Beginnings was easy. Shinkawa came off as a fearful green player that had gotten lost in the woods and pretended to witness the murder of a few friends. His goal was simple, and rather predictable for him.

After waiting for almost hours in the central plaza, observing patrols and headcounts for how many green players were being sent to different parts of the city, something caused Shinkawa to pause his work.

"Just stay chill, Kaz. Everyone here knows not do do anything to you." Aaron looked back to his friend, keeping him close. "Everyone here will be a bit nervous seeing you as a red player, but no matter what happens just stay next to me. We're almost there."

Sinon was latched to Kirito's arm, seeing several hateful glances their way. She was scared that they would do something to him and kept close as a result.

Shinkawa drew blood on his lip, as he was biting it with such ferocity that it hurt him. Something had changed in Asada. He saw her on the other side of the street with a new look in her eyes, almost like that of a girl in love. His heart rate increased, feeling the urge to thrash and attack someone, but he abstained.

He knew very well why Kirito was there, or, the demon, as he was known within laughing coffin. His guild had made special plans just for him, which couldn't please Shinkawa more. Kazuto had always been an obstacle for him to overcome.

"…Alright, I'll need you to come with me." Aaron gestured Kirito down a hall. "We're going to meet with the Coffin player in here, pretty sure HQ we've set up in the middle of town."

"Got it." Kirito nodded, and looked down towards Shino. He playfully flicked her forehead, causing her to puff her cheeks.

"Don't do anything stupid, or I'll beat you up, okay?" She let go of his arm, and folded her own with a sassy "hmph".

"Cute." Kirito smiled, and went off with his friend. He was intrigued, and nervous as well to meet one of the Laughing Coffin members.

Sinon felt a swelling anxiety form in her belly, but tried to brush it to the side knowing he would be fine. It was just a meeting after all.

Kirito entered the hall, it was a large circular room filled with fancy decor and seats around an enormous table. The windows, goblets, floor, practically everything was gilded in a shining gold that reeked of posh and overly rich demeanor. Not his style.

There was a dozen or so green players sitting around the table, likely the various guild leaders and such on the lower floors. Kirito was unsure as to why so many people were here, which Aaron picked up on quickly.

"We got XaXa to agree to a meeting like this, a lot of the people didn't like the idea of bringing reds within the town, so we had to let more people in on the meeting. It's lame, but whatever." Aaron sighed, taking a seat and letting his boots rest on the table. "He'll be here soon, apparently. Then you can be on your way hopefully."

Kirito took a seat and felt the gaze of everyone baring down on him. He felt they should all understand why he was a red player but couldn't bring himself to go over it all again. His fucks were diminishing.

Across from him, he saw a slight shimmer, as XaXa appeared already seated. He had used his metamaterial camouflage cloak to sneak inside. The two sitting adjacent to him jumped, not aware of his presence. Aaron only rolled his eyes, not being surprised for a second time.

"Demon." XaXa's glowing red eyes honed in on Kirito, who looked him over.

"Heard you were looking for me." The fellow red player responded.

"You've made quite a name for yourself." Xaxa remarked, looking at the various people around the room. "I think you'll regret having so many bystanders, here."

The various guild leaders took their seats, most of them feeling uncomfortable. XaXa was just a little too comfortable being in the room with all of them. One of the leaders seemed unphased by the Laughing Coffin member, which interested Kirito. The man looked older, and was recognizable for Kirito as Heathcliff, the guild leader for Asuna's guild.

"So he's here. Hurry up with your business." Aaron's chair creaked as he leaned back, keeping boots on the table.

"I have an offer for you Kirito. If you refuse, there may be an issue."

XaXa's face was not visible from beneath his mask, but Kirito had the suspicion that he was smiling.

"Let's hear It then."

…

Shino was twiddling her thumbs nonstop while waiting outside of where they were meeting. Maybe the laughing coffin member he was supposed to meet wouldn't show up, maybe there was nothing to worry about. She had been dreading this moment for the last day, hoping that the harrowing would end with a peaceful, boring conclusion, so everyone can just go back to playing.

"Asada-San!" Kyouji ran up to her, causing her to jump.

"Shinkawa!" She ran towards her friend and hugged him, relieved. "I thought you were captured… I'm so glad you were okay, I didn't see you on my friends list."

The two began walking down one of the side streets, near an area covered in flowers and seats to relax.

"Yeah, I escaped. I was so worried about you." Shinkawa quickly looked up at his buff bar, ensuring that friends with benefits was active. "I removed all my friends, so no one could find me, I'm really sorry I was just so scared." He bowed his head, sending her a friend request.

She instantly accepted, trusting her friendl completely.

"Enough about that, how are you? How did you make it back to town safely?" She was excited, relieved that her friend was alive and well.

Despite Sinon's relief, Kyouji's eyes trailed off from his crush's eyes to her neck, noticing the faint evidence of hickies signifying that she had been fooling around. Images of Kirito flashed into his head, fueling him with anger. The thought of Kirito tossing _his_ Asada around nearly overcame the power of friends with benefits and almost revealed him.

"Shinkawa-Kun?"

The anger in his eyes lingered for a few moments, filled with jealousy and hatred towards the man he sought to overcome. Before long, his rage subsided, and his gaze returned to Asada, blinking a few times.

"Did you hear me?" She cocked her head to the side.

"Y-Yes. Sorry. I was able to escape when the captors weren't looking and tried to find my brother here in the town of beginnings." Shinkawa sighed, relieved he didn't lose his temper.

…

In the meeting room, the air was cold. XaXa's eyes ceased their red glow for a moment, as if the mask was empty, and then immediately re-energized with a small pulse, shaking the room.

Kirito braced himself, putting his hand on his blade.

"I've just frozen time for two minutes, with the exception of you." XaXa stared directly at Kirito.

"What do you mean…?" Kirito asked, looking around at the frozen green players, including Aaron.

"They can't hear us at the moment. I acquired this skill on my seventeenth kill."

Kirito understood, looking at each player's face to ensure they weren't blinking.

"You have an offer, don't you?"

"You will join Laughing Coffin." His tone was dull, and direct, without question.

Kirito's eyebrow shot up, unsure if the man was serious.

"You're joking right? I want nothing to do with you." His sword arm relaxed but remained on guard.

XaXa looked at some of the green players that were unable to move and looked back to Kirito.

"Are you so naïve as to think that being green makes you a good person? Surely you don't think that… You aren't one."

The cold that had entered the room was now nipping at Kirito's knuckles, prompting him to put his hands in his pockets, as well as notice the breath in front of him upon each exhale. The temperature had no comparison to the chill he felt up his spine being in a one on one with a Laughing Coffin Officer.

"Still, those who would willingly kill are far worse scum than anyone else."

With a sigh, XaXa shook his head.

"I will prove you wrong."

"…"

As if there had never been any issue, the frozen players were back to normal, just having heard Aaron address XaXa.

The laughing coffin member rested his hand on the table, and looked towards the black swordsman.

"The green players will either kill Kirito within the next four hours, or I will launch a full-scale siege on the highest population concentrated city. My guildies would like their buffs."

Hushed voices circled the room, none loud enough to be heard.

"That's it? You want us to sacrifice Kirito or you'll kill innocents? You must be stupid." Aaron replied, standing up. "We'll never-"

"One man's life to save many?" A different green player added in.

"If you kill Kirito, the demon, I will forever call off any further attacks on the first five floors of Aincrad."

Kirito felt his blood turn to ice, as he began looking towards the door.

Mixed opinions filled the room, many opting to take the deal. Only a few stood for his defense.

"…He's just another red player, why should more die for his sake?"

A trade of gazes was exchanged between XaXa and Kirito, hearing his words echo in his head. ' _I will prove you wrong._ '

Chaos began to erupt into the room, as people began to shout in disarray.

"Someone grab him!"

Kirito sprung into action, jumping away from the table and springing towards the door.

Aaron looked after him, and back towards the Laughing Coffin member who sat coolly in his chair as people began to panic around him and arm themselves. With a laugh, XaXa began to materialize into thin air.

…

Sinon jumped as a siren began to blast through the town from the speakers on every street. The game allowed for guilds to make broadcasts, and it had served as a pivotal source of communication during the Harrowing Event.

" _This is Commander Heathcliff of the Anti-Red Knights of the Blood Oath. The floor clearer Kirito is hereby branded as a traitor and must be captured within the next three hours. If you see him, report it to a militia official immediately."_ The stern voice continued to describe his features and go on about him, causing Sinon to blink a few times in disbelief.

Shinkawa's face was brimming in delight, almost intoxicated as the sirens blared around them.

Initially fearful, Sinon's tendency to break down and go weak was absent. She was angry, and didn't realize how similar her face mirrored Kirito when he was full of adrenaline. Something had to be a mistake, Kirito was innocent.

"I need to go." Shino stood up from the small spot in the park, and began walking off. She had to be smart. If people were after Kirito, they'd likely know that she was with him due to how often they're near each other. If Kirito were there, he'd tell her to get to safety so they could plan their next move.

"W-Wait, Asada-San! They said he's a traitor!" He extended his hand outwards, similar to his past self-watching her running away.

"I'm sorry Shinkawa." With one final glance, she teleported away with her teleport crystal.

Sinon was moving at a snail's pace through the Long Night, doing her best to not be spotted as she made her way to Kirito's home. The small path underneath the waterfall had grown on her, knowing when to turn off the road and find his hidden home. Despite the almost unbearable cold, the familiarity of their hidden paradise soothed her, never seeing another player anywhere near it.

Entering his home and locking up put her mind at ease. She set her bow down, leaning it against the cabinet in the living room, and plopped down on the couch. Using her in game menu, she could see that there was only 8 hours left of the long night… And the sun would finally come up.

Snuggling under his blanket, she waited for him to appear, and drifted off into a long slumber.

…

The black swordsman was running through the streets, being chased by a few green player defenders. Word was spreading quickly that his life being taken would spare the Town from a siege, resulting in an all-out assault directed towards him.

Rounding a corner, ten players were blocking the street in front of him. Before Kirito could turn somewhere else, more players had flanked him, and surrounded him on the rooftops.

"That's him, that's him!" They panicked, pointing at him.

"Just come quietly, spare hundreds by giving your life!" Another yelled.

A wave of water and fire-based spells flew towards him from various directions, which Kirito countered with his own elemental magic. He knew there would be no way to talk himself out of this, they only saw him as a red player. Deflecting attacks without killing anyone would prove to be a difficult challenge.

A shadow cast over Kirito from the lamplight, making him react to the incoming boulder that was going to land on his head. With blinding agility, he plunged his sword through the rock, causing it to split in two and fall to his sides. Keeping track of the various incoming arrows and spells was manageable, if he didn't have to do it for too long.

A tall figure In red and white armor moved through the crowd and stepped forward, to which people quickly moved out of his way. His enormous shield was emblazoned with a large red cross, which had a broadsword strapped within It for him to unsheathe.

"L-Lord Heathcliff sir!"

Kirito braced himself, holding his blade out in front of him.

"You heard what the man said at the meeting, Kirito. Why do you resist?" The elder quizzed. Something seemed off about Heathcliff, and his interest in Kirito was no secret.

"I'm not a hero. I promised someone I'd make it out of this death-game." While he spoke, casters from above were preparing another barrage of spells. It was twenty five to one, or more. "Guess that means you're out of luck." Kirito glared.

With godly speed, a ray of lightning sprayed out of Heathcliff's shield, faster than any usually player could act. The blast detonated against an enormous rock wall that Kirito summoned just as quickly to block the attack, but still knocking him to the side due to the force of the blast. He quickly picked back up his sword, and fought his way to his feet.

The two continued to hurl high level spells at one another, feeling each other out until Kirito finally went on the offensive.

His blade, Elucidator slammed into Heathcliff's shield, to which Kirito drew another blade almost instantaneously and went to chop off his arm that was over extending the shield.

Out of respect, Heathcliff _dropped_ his shield and withdrew his arm to save himself the damage. Kirito knew despite his upper hand, this older player was by no means a pushover, and seemed able to keep up with his strikes.

"Not bad. You also utilized a weapon skill with a counter riposte, I may try that some time." His opponent complimented him, seemingly unphased by their battle.

Kirito nodded, and the two were at each other's throats again, clashing blades over and over, trying to find an opening.

"Sir, the barrier's almost up!" A player yelled, helping cast a spell to trap Kirito.

Heathcliff ignored his guild mate, and focused on the fight at hand. The young man with black hair was pressing him, and hard. Every half step he gained, he traded a percentage of his life points due to Kirito knowing when to attack. They had both already gotten into yellow, which was the first time Heathcliff had been in such a position.

As Heathcliff decided to get serious, his body language changed, which did not go unnoticed by Kirito. Unfortunately for Heathcliff, the battle between them was nothing more than a diversion to reposition himself on the battlefield. While the bystanders watched, Kirito was moving their trades closer and closer to an entrance to an alleyway.

"You're not going to escape, your life is too important."

With that, Heathcliff fired another jet of lightning which whined from his sword, with an even fiercer spark than the previous.

Barely in time, Kirito's earth spell as a response was obliterated, causing smoke to fill the street and billow out from the sides.

As the dust settled, Kirito was gone.

"D-Did he get him?" A player asked.

"I think so!" One of them sighed in relief.

Kirito had entered the refuge of his _own_ metamaterial camouflage cloak, and slowly worked away from the scene, escaping. The energy blast destroying his barrier was exactly the diversion he needed. As he looked back, he noticed something eerie.

Heathcliff was looking right at him.

For what ever reason, he did not alert his troops, and merely watched him as he ran away.

Once he was finally out of view, Kirito continued to run out of the Town of Beginnings, drowning out the sirens that were blasting with full intention to find him.

He wanted to go home. His real home, where Sugu could nag him for burning their food, or not sparring with her. Always being on the run was no way to live, especially since the _"good"_ players were trying to kill him.

Checking his clock, they only had thirty more minutes to kill him before the Laughing Coffin would make their move.

Kirito sighed.

"Fuck 'em."


	12. Distance

"And what about YOU then? What's the deal with us not taking any breaks?" A young man complained, trotting down the ice-covered path, nearly slipping.

"Oh, fuck off Will, will yeh? It'll be done when it's done."

"And what was Rebecca going on about when…" The voices of the traveling players got further and further from the tree in which Kirito was perched in. Despite the frigid temperatures of the winter which was on its way to a close, the swordsman was rather warm. His access to various coats and gloves and anything of the liking was vast, as he had completed most of the fetch quests for NPC's on the first 50 floors.

Sadly, much of his interaction over the past two to three months was in fact with NPC's, leaving his social life rather stale. With the harrowing long over, the fear of pk'ers had finally ceased, but that did nothing to save Kirito's reputation amongst the populace. From the few rumors he had gathered, there was an extremely bloody battle and siege at the town of beginnings after the green players were not able to capture him; beginning a widespread belief that Kirito was just as evil as any laughing coffin member.

Kirito would open his menu and pull out one of the scopes for a sniper rifle that he had been tinkering on and was testing the various variable zooms down the mountainous paths below him. It seemed like the game had some visual assistance and range indicators when using such scopes. Nice.

Kirito's work was nearing completion, as with the evolutionary theme of Aincrad, he had hypothesized that modern weaponry would be the best long-term solution to clearing the final floors. The main issue now was his tarnished reputation, especially since he'd need Asada to wield the weapon he was making.

With a sigh, he began to recollect XaXa, and the whole lot of laughing coffin which were truly despicable individuals, yet XaXa had correctly proved that people were monsters in general. His mind shifted to Heathcliff, and the various pawns that would believe in their guild leader's decision to try and kill Kirito, and they were supposed to be the _good guys._

He felt himself get angry and noticed he hadn't made any further progress with his scope testing, which prompted him to take a deep breath and try not to think about it. Regaining his focus, another thought snuck into his mind, that of his black-haired friend smiling at him in his bedroom, remembering the tender moment they shared the days prior to entering this hell hole.

He missed her.

For months, he hadn't spoken with her in fear of her being caught up in his now always-wanted reputation. A few times he had, while he felt ashamed of it, followed her using his metamaterial camouflage cloak. She wasn't danger at these times but found solace in seeing her when he could. It was in his best interest and her best interest for them to stay far apart until he found a way to make the green players not want his head, but they were just so _horrible._

Again, realizing how distracted he was, staring at the same ridge in the mountain for nearly two minutes, he cursed and pocketed the scope.

He checked his clock and hopped down from the tree after activating his MMC.

Very shortly, he would be stalking the clear team as they worked on the next floor and would keep an eye on them. Luckily the clear teams harbored no ill will against Kirito, despite Heathcliff's influence. Red, Green, nothing mattered when it came to further the progress of humanity through the game.

…

Floor 64 was nothing special, the harder bosses tended to be on the new tiers, like 70 or 80, but Kirito showed up either way, disabling his cloak.

"Sup Al." The red player muttered, causing a few knights to jump as he seemed to appear out of thin air.

"Ah, there he is!" Alfred, a player donned in a full suit of armor. He was the leader of a, thankfully, normal clear guild that had been popular in the last few weeks They were simply called "The Squad". Kirito had been assisting them in the last few weeks, feeling more desperate to be out of this hell hole of a game.

A new emergence of people wanting to escape had risen due to a new form of death occurring, which people had been calling " _expiring"._ People were randomly dying in their sleep, or just at random times during the day. At first, it had been thought to be laughing coffin, but it wasn't murder.

People without ample medical resources in real life, were passing away.

"Standard plan, prebuff and then we just face check the boss? I have no info on this floor."

"That's the plan, if it gets too hot, we just port out." Al nodded, handing a spear to his guildie.

"No prob- "

"Are you fucking _kidding_ me?!" Asuna walked up glaring at Kirito.

Kirito sighed. ' _Shit._ '

"Hello."

"Don't you hello me, where the hell- "

The swordsman shot her a powerful glare, prompting her to stop talking. A few of The Squad were looking over, interested in what their new recruit Asuna would want with the renown red player

"Oh, I'm sorry miss, I think I stole your sword a month or so back! Haha." He lied, ushering her to the side.

"Sinon has been crying her eyes out! -"

Now further away, Kirito finally responded.

"Are you stupid?" Kirito asked, bluntly. Asuna's normally confident and aggressive demeanor of problem solving backed down, looking a little sad.

"I just… There's so many questions…" She bit her lip.

"Firstly, you probably don't want to be seen with me, or pretend to know me, my reputation has gone to shit. Also, do not mention Sinon and me, it would put her in danger." He commanded.

"Why did you vanish? We were so worried about you. _I was worried."_ Her voice went soft, as emotion caught up to her and began to show in her eyes.

"Those fuckers tried to kill me, and they are blaming me for the massacre that took place after since I didn't go along willingly."

"But why did you leave me? Why not find me and talk…? I can be there for you, you know?" Asuna anger was gone, but her sadness stayed.

Kirito looked towards The Squad.

"People change. I remember in high school reading about these children who were trapped on an island, and how it _changed_ them. The people in this game are no different, I don't trust them."

"But… You can trust me, Kazuto." Asuna put a hand on his chest, missing his warmth.

"Exactly, if they know we're close, who knows what'll happen to you."

"Can I at least tell everyone you're alright…?"

Kirito sighed, but nodded.

"Yeah."

It looked as if The Squad was going to start soon.

"Oh, and Kazuto?" Asuna asked, prompting him to look at her one more time before departing.

"Hm?"

"Are we still… Like… A thing?" Her eyes were very curious, and still filled with visible anxiety.

He rolled his tongue around in his mouth in thought, thinking back. They had had sex multiple times, and messed around in high school, but when it came to be wanting to _be_ with someone, he could only think about the girl who looked up to him so dearly, Asada Shino. The thought of someone else being her protector filled him with rage and menial emotions, which helped give his answer.

"You are very important to me, Asuna, you always will be, we know a lot about one another. But I think you know where my heart belongs."

"I see." She said after a pause and cleared her throat. "Well, I'm glad you're okay. I just joined these guys so let's go see what they've got."

Kirito grinned. "They're not bad. Also, pretend you don't know me please."

"Fine."

They set off into the floor's dungeon, eager to reach another step towards going home.


End file.
